Dow futures up ahead of March U.S. CPI release.

Dow futures are up 0.7% after the March inflation data came in cooler than expected, potentially offering the Federal Reserve the opportunity to pause its rate-hiking cycle. The blue-chip index closed 0.3% higher, the broad-based index ended flat, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.4%. Bed Bath & Beyond is slated to report another quarterly loss and announced plans to sell over $100 million of stock to boost its finances. Oil prices edged higher ahead of the release of the all-important U.S. inflation data as well as the U.S. government crude inventories.