US equity futures turned lower ahead of Wednesday's opening bell as traders digested key inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 1%, S&P 500 futures dropped 1.1%, and Nasdaq futures were down 1.2%.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 0.9% at $76.28 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 1.1% lower at $72.50 per barrel.

The Consumer Price Index report, released at 8:30 am ET, showed a 0.5% month-over-month rise in consumer prices in January compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a 0.3% increase and December's 0.4% gain.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak before the House Financial Services Committee with a focus on his semiannual monetary policy testimony.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.4% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 2.6% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.9% higher. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was flat, and Germany's DAX index was 0.2% lower in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Generac (GNRC) were 3.3% higher pre-bell after the company reported higher Q4 adjusted earnings and sales.

On the losing side, Spire Global (SPIR) shares were down 51% after the company said late Tuesday that there is a "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months due to projected cash needs. Atomera (ATOM) stock was nearly 39% lower, a day after the company reported lower Q4 revenue.