US equity futures were lower pre-bell Thursday as traders looked ahead to the producer inflation report.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.2%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures were down 0.5%.

The US consumer price index was released Wednesday, which showed a 0.2% increase in prices, compared with Bloomberg survey expecting a 0.3% growth.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 0.7% at $70.46 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude down 0.8% at $67.17 per barrel.

New unemployment claims, scheduled for release at 8:30 am ET, are expected to rise to 226,000 in the week ended March 8 from 221,000 in the preceding week, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Producer prices are seen rising by 0.3% for the final demand for February following a 0.4% uptick previously.