07:17 AM EDT, 10/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Wall Street futures pointed moderately higher pre-bell Thursday, led by tech issues on brightened expectations for chip sales after a quarterly earnings report from an industry leader.

Big Board-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) rose 8.1% pre-bell after the chipmaking colossus reported better-than-expected Q3 results and issued upbeat guidance late Tuesday.

In economic news, the September retail sales bulletin will post in Washington at 8:30 am ET, sure to be parsed for clues to the strength of the national economy, and possible influence on Federal Reserve policies.

In the futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq inclined 0.9% but the Dow Jones was off 0.1%.

Marsh & McLennan (MMC) traded modestly lower pre-bell after the insurance giant reported Q3 earnings up on year and topped profit expectations of analysts surveyed by Capital IQ. Revenue gained on year, but missed outlooks.

Netflix (NFLX), Blackstone (BX) and Morgan Stanley (MS) are also slated to report earnings pre-bell, among many others.

Asian exchanges traded mostly lower overnight after Beijing unveiled a housing stimulus package that underwhelmed investors, while European bourses tracked moderately higher midday on the continent.

On the economic calendar, in addition to retail report, is the weekly jobless claims bulletin at 8:30 am ET, along with the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for October.

The national industrial production bulletin for September posts at 9:15 am.

Business inventories for August and the NAHB housing market index for October post at 10 am.

The EIA's weekly natural gas report posts at 10:30 am, and the weekly petroleum status report at 11 am.

Federal Reserve Chicago President Austan Goolsbee speaks at 11 am.

In premarket action, Bitcoin traded at $67.146, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded higher at $70.52, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.03%. Spot gold traded for $2,687 an ounce, testing all-time record highs.