U.S. Stock Futures Signal More Gains for Equities

Stock futures pointed to a higher open for equities on Wall Street Monday, building on sharp gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 up 0.4 to 0.5 percent.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago releases its Chicago Fed National Activity Index for September at 1230 GMT (8:30 a.m. EDT). The index read -0.43 in August, indicating below-historical trend growth.

Texas Instruments will report third-quarter earnings. Investors will be anxious to hear whether it sees any improvement in demand for its chips -- used in everything from cars to cellphones -- ahead of the holiday shopping season. Analysts expect a profit of about 57 cents per share, versus 71 cents per share a year ago.

Other companies reporting results include Caterpillar, Kimberly Clark, Amgen, Eaton, VF and Zions Bancorporation .

President Barack Obama this week will announce a series of actions to help the economy that will not require congressional approval, including an initiative to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages, according to a White House official.

U.S. companies do not plan to significantly increase payrolls over the next six months but neither do they intend to aggressively fire workers, according to a survey on Monday that suggested lackluster job growth.

Resource-related shares will be in focus, with key base metals prices jumping after data showed China's vast manufacturing sector picked up moderately in October, snapping a three-month contraction and underscoring the resilience of the world's second-largest economy backed by robust domestic demand.

China's biggest dairy company China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd <2319.HK> is considering a bid for Pfizer's nutrition business, according to a newspaper report, a unit that could fetch as much as $10 billion.

News Corp's third-largest investor has urged Rupert Murdoch to sell all his newspapers and double the size of a share buyback plan, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Google as spoken to at least two private equity firms about possibly helping them finance a deal to buy Yahoo Inc's core business, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Eastman Kodak held meetings with hedge funds to negotiate up to $900 million in rescue financing this week, news service Debtwire reported on Friday.

Netflix said it will launch a subscription service in the United Kingdom and Ireland in early 2012, offering unlimited TV shows and movie streaming over the Internet.

U.S. bank Regions Financial Corp is offering as much as $200 million to help finance the sale of its Morgan Keegan brokerage unit, Bloomberg said citing people with knowledge of the matter.

European shares <.FTEU3> rose 0.5 percent on Monday on optimism policymakers were closer to an agreement on bank recapitalization and on how to leverage their rescue fund to try to stop bond market contagion. Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> advanced 1.9 percent.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 267.01 points, or 2.31 percent, to 11,808.79. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 22.86 points, or 1.88 percent, at 1,238.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 38.84 points, or 1.49 percent, at 2,637.46.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Mike Nesbit)