Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.1 to 0.3 percent.

* Aluminum maker Alcoa will unofficially kick off the U.S. earnings season on Monday. The company is expected to report quarterly earnings of 27 cents per share on revenue of $6.07 billion, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.

* Deutsche Boerse said on Sunday its planned acquisition of NYSE Euronext was on track after NYSE's board of directors unanimously rejected a counter offer by Nasdaq and ICE .

* U.S. President Barack Obama will lay out his approach for long-term U.S. deficit reduction later this week, his senior adviser David Plouffe said on Sunday.

Obama will look at the Medicare and Medicaid government healthcare programs for the elderly and the poor to see what kind of savings are possible, Plouffe told NBC's Meet the Press program, without giving details.

* Britain's top banks should shield their retail operations from riskier investment banking activities and hold more capital to protect taxpayers in the event of another financial crisis, a report said.

* Resource-related stocks will be in focus as copper prices advanced on a weaker dollar and encouraging China trade data. Gold hit a record high, while silver climbed to its highest in more than three decades.

* China recorded a rare trade deficit in the first quarter of the year on the back of domestic economic strength and rising global commodity prices, the customs administration said on Sunday.

* Brent crude fell toward $126 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures slipped after touching a 2-1/2-year high as the African Union said Muammar Gaddafi had accepted a roadmap to end the civil war in Libya.

* The Union said Gaddafi has accepted an immediate ceasefire and added that the issue of his stepping down had also been discussed. Rebels have said they will accept nothing less than an end to Gaddafi's four decades in power, but Libyan officials say he will not quit.

* Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> fell on Monday after Citigroup slashed ratings on major automakers to sell. European stocks dropped 0.3 percent ahead of the earnings season and prompted investors to book recent gains.

* On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 29.59 points, or 0.24 percent, at 12,379.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 5.36 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,328.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 15.73 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,780.41.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Erica Billingham)

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