US stock futures drifted higher in premarket trading on Wednesday as the third quarter earnings season got underway and investors awaited fresh inflation data.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( YM=F ) rose by 0.3%, and the S&P 500 ( ES=F ) climbed 0.1%. Contracts for the Nasdaq-100 ( NQ=F ) fell 0.1% after stocks staggered lower on Tuesday.

Stocks were poised for a recovery as a chip sell-off eased in South Korea and the KOSPI index (^KS11) rose after a 12% decline over the past five days. Investors will be closely scrutinizing quarterly updates from chip equipment maker ASML (ASML) on Wednesday and from Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) on Thursday for signs that AI demand remains strong.

Elsewhere, the parade of financial company earnings continues with results from Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS). BlackRock (BLK) stock jumped premarket after its third quarter earnings beat analyst expectations. Those reports follow several investment banking earnings reports on Tuesday, indicating that consumers are holding up despite higher interest rates, among other signals.

Markets also braced for a fresh reading of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. Economists anticipate that higher gas and energy prices drove inflation higher in September, with headline inflation jumping 3.6% year over year. If inflation comes in hotter than that, it could put an October Fed rate hike back in play, experts cautioned.

Brent crude futures (BZ=F), the global benchmark, remained above $105 per barrel as Houthis continued to bomb Saudi Arabian energy facilities.