NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - U.S. stock futures ticked higher Wednesday after a closely watched inflation measure came in line with estimates.

Futures were pointed to a slightly higher opening after the government released its Consumer Price Index report at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The report showed the government's broad measure of retail prices rose 0.7 percent in January, slightly above the 0.5 percent economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast. But the so-called core CPI, which excludes often volatile food and energy prices, gained just 0.2 percent, in line with estimates. (Full story.)

Investors looking for clues about the future of interest rates were soothed by report, which suggests inflation is still tame at the core.

Inflationary pressure has gotten more attention in recent weeks amid signs that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates, even after its March 27-28 meeting, when a quarter-percentage point hike is widely expected. On Tuesday, the minutes of the Jan. 31 meeting showed that some central bank policy makers were concerned that readings on core inflation and inflation expectations were "somewhat" higher than desired, feeding those expectations of more rate hikes.

Before the report, John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia, said he thought equities would rally if either of the inflation readings came in below expectations -- even if he thinks that the Fed could still be on course for further rate hikes after the March meeting.

"I think the markets really want relief," said Silvia. "I think they would jump on any kind of good news. But I think the Fed is looking more at the risk of inflation rather than the actual number. It seems to me they're on the hawkish side; they want to get ahead of the curve."

Treasury prices were little changed after the CPI report, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note holding around 4.56 percent. The dollar was higher against the euro and the yen.

Major markets in Asia were mixed Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei losing ground with stocks gained in Hong Kong and Australia. Major European markets were mixed in early trading.

Oil prices eased from the gains posted Tuesday on concerns about rebel activity in Nigeria. The government's weekly report on U.S. fuel inventories, normally out Wednesday, will be a day late this week due to the President's Day holiday.

The April light crude futures contract for NYMEX fell 65 cents to $62.09 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent crude lost 63 cents to $60.97.

Alaska has reached an agreement with BP (Research), Exxon Mobil (Research) and ConocoPhillips (Research) on a natural gas pipeline to bring the fuel from the North Slope to the rest of North America. A 2001 estimate put the cost of the pipeline at $20 billion, but the Wall Street Journal reports that a rise in steel prices since then could raise those costs significantly.

Shares of Exxon Mobil were slightly higher in European trading, although shares of BP were down about 2 percent in London.

A group of rivals and customers of software provider Microsoft (Research) filed a new complaint with the European Commission on Wednesday, accusing the company of competing unfairly. Tech companies that belong to the group include IBM (Research), Oracle (Research), Sun Microsystems (Research), Nokia (Research) and RealNetworks (Research).

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.