Stock futures ticked lower Wednesday as investors looked ahead to a key inflation report due later this week. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 115 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures pulled back 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.5%. Online marketplace eBay rose nearly 5% after announcing that it was raising its quarterly dividend and would spend an additional $2 billion on buybacks. Urban Outfitters lost more than 9% after reporting weaker-than-expected results for the fourth quarter. Wall Street is coming off a mixed session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose slightly, while the Dow declined. The S&P 500 and the Dow are off the highs they just notched late last week, but investors may want to think twice before they aggressively ramp up on equities. “I just don’t think you chase at this point,” Drew Pettit, director of U.S. equity strategy at Citi, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “A lot of good news is getting priced in – we are actually trading up even though the reporting season really hasn’t been great; we really haven’t had a lot of broad beats and broad raises.” “Enjoy the ride in equities right now,” he added. “Just wait for a better time if you want to be more aggressive.” Investors are looking toward the personal consumption expenditure reading for January on Thursday, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. “A positive surprise on PCE inflation would comfort markets on upcoming fed funds rate cuts, as a more accommodative monetary policy could also reduce financial risk,” Global X ETFs head of investment strategy at Morgane Delledonne wrote in a Monday note. U.S. Treasury yields dipped on Wednesday as investors looked to key economic data ahead that could provide hints about the outlook for interest rates. At 8:33 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury yield was down by more than 3 basis points at 4.28%. The 2-year Treasury yield dipped nearly 4 basis points to 4.677%. Asia-Pacific stock markets mostly fell Wednesday as New Zealand’s central bank kept its interest rate steady, while Hong Kong scrapped rules to tighten its property market at its budget announcement. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.3%, while the Hang Seng Property index turned negative after jumping nearly 2% earlier in the session. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended about flat at 7,660.40, while New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.6% higher at 11,763.32 after the RBNZ decision. The CSI 300 index fell 1.3% to close at 3,450.26. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.08% lower at 39,208.03 and the broader Topix inched 0.1% lower to close at 2,674.95. The Nikkei 225 had hit a record high earlier in the week. South Korea’s Kospi closed out gains of 1% at 2,652.29, rising after two straight days of declines. The smaller-cap Kosdaq added 1.1% at 863.39. Crude oil futures rose Tuesday amid uncertainty about the prospects for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and as some investors expect OPEC+ will extend its production cuts beyond the first quarter. The West Texas Intermediate contract for April rose $1.29, or 1.66%, to settle at $78.87 a barrel. Brent April futures rose $1.12, or 1.36%, to settle at $83.65 a barrel. Gold prices edged down for a third straight day on Wednesday, hurt by a rebounding U.S. dollar, ahead of crucial economic data which help shape investors’ view on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts. Spot gold slipped 0.1% at $2,026.71 per ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,039.4 per ounce.