NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures pared earlier gains slightly as consumer inflation moved into positive territory for the first time since October. The inflation increase might encourage the Federal Reserve to pull the trigger on a rate hike sooner than expected.  

S&P 500 futures were up 0.13%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.17%, and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.17%. 

Consumer prices climbed 0.2% in February, reversing a 0.7% decline a month earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Monday. The increase in the headline number was the first in four months and came in as expected. Core CPI, excluding energy and food items, rose 0.2%, double what economists were expecting.  

The U.S. dollar continued to fall, giving a boost to crude prices and improving the prospects of multinational companies. The greenback fell from 12-year highs last week after the Fed suggested a slower-than-expected rate hike timeline. The U.S. dollar fell 0.24% against the euro on Tuesday, 0.08% against the Aussie dollar, and 1% against the Swiss franc.

West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.3% to $47.59 a barrel. Crude prices were under pressure earlier on news that production in Saudi Arabia was close to an all-time high, pumping around 10 million barrels a day. 

Also hurting oil prices, China's industrial activity continued to slow. In March, the factory sector in the world's second-largest economy fell to an 11-month low of 49.2, according to HSBC's flash China manufacturing index. Weakness prompted calls for fresh rounds of stimulus. 

The eurozone appeared to be improving with business activity hitting its highest level in 46 months in March. Markit's flash composite PMI data climbed to 54.1 from 53.3 a month earlier, a sign the European Central Bank's stimulus measures are beginning to show results. 

Facebook (FB) - Get Report shares were edging higher after TheNew York Times said the social network is exploring ways to host media sites' content directly in its newsfeed. Shares were up 0.3% in premarket trading. 

Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report shares were on watch after its Twitch subsidiary warned its users' accounts may have been hacked with personal information potentially leaked. 

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) - Get Report jumped more than 2% after activist investor Carl Icahn upped his stake in the company to just under 11% from around 10% in December.