In the evening trading session on Tuesday, April 9th, US stock futures edged slightly higher following a mildly bullish Wall Street session, with investors preparing for the release of important inflation data expected to influence rate forecasts.

After a sluggish start to April on Wall Street and mostly flat trading in recent sessions, increased commentary from the Federal Reserve and the start of earnings season for the first quarter have heightened market tensions.

As of 19:12 ET (23:12 GMT), S&P 500 futures rose by 0.05%, closing at 5,262.75 points, Nasdaq 100 futures increased by 0.07%, closing at 18,373.50 points, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 0.06%, closing at 39,218.0 points.

The focus in the market now shifts to the upcoming release of March CPI data scheduled for Wednesday. It is expected that this data will show a slight uptick in the annual inflation rate to 3.4%, still significantly above the Federal Reserve's annual target of 2%.

Given recent data indicating strength in the US labor market, there is little encouragement for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates prematurely.

In recent weeks, some Federal Reserve members have warned that persistent inflation provides the central bank with more leeway to keep rates higher for longer.

While Wall Street awaits the minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting, it also keeps an eye on earnings. Over the past few days, Wall Street indices have seen little volatility, benefiting from profit-taking in heavyweight technology stocks, as market risk appetite wanes in the face of higher long-term rates.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index rose by 0.1%, closing at 5,209.91 points, the Nasdaq Composite index increased by 0.3%, closing at 16,306.64 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed unchanged at 38,883.67 points.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) fell by 2% during trading and touched a one-month low in after-hours trading, as investors took profits after the stock's strong performance.

The minutes from the March Federal Reserve meeting are also set to be released on Wednesday, which could provide further insights into the central bank's interest rate plans for this year.

Although the Federal Reserve reiterated its forecast for a 75 basis point rate cut this year during the meeting, many Fed officials have expressed doubts about this, particularly considering the ongoing inflationary conditions.

Earnings season for the first quarter is also making investors nervous as they wait to see if Wall Street can justify the significant valuation growth seen in the first quarter.

On Friday, Wall Street banks JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) will kick off their earnings season.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: D) and BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) also plan to release their quarterly reports this week.