Fed Chair Outlook, Easing Oil Undergirds Wall Street Pre-Bell; Asia, Europe Up

07:16 AM EDT, 10/16/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Wall Street futures pointed modestly higher pre-bell Friday, after the Federal Reserve chief issued neutral commentary overnight, and oil bills eased. In futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Nasdaq was steady, and the Dow Jones was up 1.1%. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, speaking late Thursday in Bangkok at an International Monetary Fund session, appeared to affirm the view that the US central bank is not feeling pressured to raise rates soon. West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded down 0.5% at $97.44, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 5.09% in morning action. However, the VanEck Semiconductor fund (SMH) traded down 1% pre-bell, indicating market wariness is still attached to chip stocks. Asian exchanges traded mostly higher overnight, on rebounding AI- and semiconductor-related shares. European bourses tracked moderately north midday on the continent. Tesla (TSLA) traded up 3.5% pre-bell, after unveiling a new Roadster model late Thursday. On the economic calendar is the import and export prices report for September at 8:30 am ET, followed by the industrial production bulletin for September at 9:15 am. The weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count logs at 1 pm. In pre-market action, Bitcoin traded at $82,200, and spot gold commanded $4,175 an ounce.