US Stocks-Nasdaq futures lead Wall St gains as oil retreat eases inflation worries

Sept. 18 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 led Wall Street higher on Friday, putting the tech-heavy index on course for weekly gains as a drop in oil prices tempered inflation concerns.

The moves will round out a busy week for investors, who digested an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve and weighed Chair Kevin Warsh's commentary for clues on the future trajectory of borrowing costs.

With the earnings season still a month away, commentary from top industry executives at a string of conferences this week gave markets an early read on corporate health and helped shape sentiment.

"The recent strength of S&P 500 earnings growth has raised investor concerns that the market is in an 'earnings bubble'," wrote Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist Ben Snider.

"While there are indeed factors contributing to 'over-earning' today, our base case is for S&P 500 earnings growth to decelerate, not collapse, in coming years."