PARIS- Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.17 per cent, Dow Jones futures up 0.09 per cent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.27 per cent. M&A activity will be in focus on Monday, after France's Sanofi-Aventis publicly disclosed its proposed $18.5 billion, $69 per share cash indicated offer for Genzyme Corp in a bid to rouse shareholders after failing to engage the US 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 were up 5.9 per cent. German chipmaker Infineon has agreed to sell its wireless unit to Intel for $1.4 billion, enabling the US 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 company's board of directors late on Friday said Hewlett-Packard Co's (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 Bernanke's speech last week boosted Asian stock markets. Japan's Nikkei average pared gains to close near its day's lows on Monday after rising more than 3 per cent 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 per cent 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 Bernanke's 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 . 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 per cent, to 10,150.65. The Standard & Poor's 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.
