NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Investors are on inflation watch again Thursday, getting th government's key price reading less than a week before one of the more uncertain Federal Reserve meetings in memory.

U.S. stock futures were up in early trading, indicating a higher opening for stocks, as the CPI reading for August came in line with expectations.

The CPI for August came in at up 0.5 percent, the same gain seen in July. The so-called core CPI, which excludes often volatile food and energy prices, was up less than expected at 0.1 percent, matching July.

The Producer Price Index, which measures prices on the wholesale level, showed lower inflationary pressures than expected Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve's Open Market committee meets Tuesday, and there is more debate than usual over the Fed's course, with some economists looking for the Fed to announce another quarter-percentage point rate hike while others look for a pause as central bankers weigh the damage to the economy from Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina did have an impact on unemployment. US weekly jobless claims surged by 71,000 over the past week to 398,000 compared with a revised 327,000 in the prior week. The Labor Department said nearly all of the increase attributable to the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Oil prices were up again following a bigger than expected drop in U.S. fuel inventories in a report Wednesday took prices over the $65 a barrel mark.

The October light crude futures contract for NYMEX gained 37 cents to $65.46 a barrel in electronic trading, while the October contract for Brent crude rose 23 cents to $63.60.

Major markets in Asia closed mostly lower Thursday, although Japan's Nikkei closed at a four-year closing high. Major European markets were mostly higher, with Germany's Dax bucking the trend to trade lower in early trading.

Treasury prices were little changed, with the yield on the 10-year note holding around 4.16 percent. The dollar gained ground against on the euro but slipped against the yen.

In corporate news, most airline stocks were lower in after-market trading as both No. 3 Delta Air Lines and No. 4 Northwest Airlines filed for bankruptcy court protections Wednesday evening. Both cited problems with soaring jet fuel prices, but promised to continue normal flight operations while they reorganize. Both filings were widely expected.

Shares of Google (Research) slipped 29 cents to $302.31 in after-hours trading after the Internet search engine priced a secondary stock offering of 14.2 million shares at $295 late Wednesday, offering investors a slight discount from the online search engine leader's recent market value.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Motorola (Research) is pursuing a possible sale of its 5,000-employee automotive-products unit, a transaction that could bring between $1 billion to $2 billion.

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