Stock index futures rose on Monday as a renewed pledge by France and Germany to come up with a plan to tackle the euro zone debt crisis by month's end lifted sentiment.

Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted French President Nicolas Sarkozy for talks on Sunday, and they promised to unveil a comprehensive new package for the euro zone by the end of October, but offered no details. International pressure has been building for bold steps from Europe to avert a global economic backlash.

In a move that could pressure other euro zone governments to strengthen their banks, Franco-Belgian lender Dexia agreed to nationalize its Belgian banking division and secured state guarantees in a rescue.

With apparently more positives being thrown about regarding the euro zone situation, greater confidence is being drawn from it. Day by day, there is a greater hope being pinned on more clarity, said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York.

The market has been susceptible to deep swings as sensitivity to headline risk will be here to stay.

S&P 500 futures rose 13.1 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 126 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 27.75 points.

While U.S. stock markets will be open, government offices and bond markets are closed for the U.S. Columbus Day holiday and may result in lighter-than-usual volume.

European shares rose 0.7 percent and were on track for four straight days of gains while Asian shares showed gains on optimism over Europe. <.EU>

Superior Energy Services Inc agreed to buy Complete Production Services Inc in a deal valued at $2.7 billion, creating an entity that could expand its footprint in oil-field services.

Complete Production shares jumped 49.2 percent to $30.40 and Superior Energy dropped 9 percent to $24.94 in premarket trade.

Lawn and garden products maker Scotts Miracle-Gro Co trimmed its full-year outlook for the third time in four months as Hurricane Irene and harsh weather dampened purchases.

After flirting with bear-market territory, U.S. stocks finished the week higher on Friday, building gains on encouraging jobs data and hopes Europe was dealing with its debt crisis.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Germany