PARIS Reuters Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.17 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.09 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.27 percent.
M&A activity will be in focus on Monday, after Frances Sanofi-Aventis SASY.PA publicly disclosed its proposed $18.5 billion, $69 per share cash indicated offer for Genzyme Corp GENZ.O in a bid to rouse shareholders after failing to engage the U.S. biotechnology company in merger talks. Sanofi said it is considering all options to complete the transaction, hinting it would consider a hostile takeover bid.
Shares of Genzyme traded in Frankfurt GENZ.F were up 5.9 percent.
German chipmaker Infineon IFXGn.DE has agreed to sell its wireless unit to Intel INTC.O for $1.4 billion, enabling the U.S. chipmaker to boost its presence in the smartphone market.
Dell Inc DELL.O said on Sunday it was assessing its bid for 3PAR Inc PAR.N after the data storage companys board of directors late on Friday said Hewlett-Packard Cos HPQ.N $2 billion offer was a "superior proposal."
Oil stayed near an eight-day high above $75 on Monday as sustained momentum from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernankes speech last week boosted Asian stock markets.
Japans Nikkei average pared gains to close near its days lows on Monday after rising more than 3 percent at one point, with investors disappointed by a Bank of Japan decision that contained no surprises and was seen as lackluster at best.
European stocks were up 0.3 percent in morning trade, gaining ground for the third consecutive session and tracking gains in Asian stocks and commodity prices on recovering risk appetite in the wake of Bernankes comments.
On the macro front, investors awaited July personal income and consumption data as well as the core PCE data, all due at 1230 GMT 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Stocks rebounded to post their best gains in nearly four weeks on Friday, overcoming initial skittishness brought on by a revenue warning from Intel and dour comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 164.84 points, or 1.65 percent, to 10,150.65. The Standard & Poors 500 Index .SPX jumped 17.37 points, or 1.66 percent, to 1,064.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC climbed 34.94 points, or 1.65 percent, to 2,153.63.
Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Mike Nesbit
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