Futures advance ahead of earnings after two-week drop
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday, after a two-week decline pushed the S&P 500 back into negative territory for the year, as investors anticipated the start of the corporate earnings season.
* U.S. stocks fell on Friday after the December jobs report painted a mixed picture of the economy and led the benchmark S&P index to its second straight weekly decline. Since hitting a record high on Dec. 29, the index has fallen 2.2 percent on concerns about global growth, the potential for an exit by Greece from the euro zone and falling oil prices.
* Fourth-quarter earnings are expected to grow by 4 percent over the year-ago period, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* Alcoa is scheduled to post quarterly earnings after the closing bell, with financials JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo , Goldman Sachs and Citigroup due to report later in the week. Dow component Intel Corp is expected to post earnings on Thursday.
* NPS Pharmaceuticals jumped 8.5 percent to $45.48 in premarket trading after Shire Plc agreed to acquire the company for $5.2 billion. U.S.-listed shares of Shire slipped 0.6 percent to $216.22. The stock was the most actively traded on the Nasdaq in premarket, with over 5.4 million shares traded, more than triple its 10-day average of 1.57 million.
* Foundation Medicine surged 118.4 percent to $52.25 after Roche Holding agreed to take a majority stake in the company for up to $1.18 billion.
* Johnson & Johnson boosted its research efforts in Alzheimer's by striking a deal potentially worth up to $509 million with unlisted Swiss biotech firm AC Immune to develop so-called anti-tau vaccines.
* Bristol-Myers Squibb climbed 6.4 percent to $64.20 in premarket trade after the company said the independent data monitoring committee concluded that a late stage study evaluating its Opdivo lung cancer drug met its endpoint.
* Lululemon Athletica climbed 7.5 percent to $63 before the opening bell after the yogawear chain raised its revenue and profit forecasts for the fourth quarter.
* Express Inc gained 6.1 percent to $14.98 in premarket after the apparel retailer boosted its fourth-quarter and full-year profit outlook, citing strong holiday sales.
Futures snapshot at 8:22 a.m. EST:
* S&P 500 e-minis were up 7.25 points, or 0.36 percent, with 131,183 contracts changing hands.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 14.25 points, or 0.34 percent, in volume of 23,994 contracts.
* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 56 points, or 0.32 percent, with 23,634 contracts changing hands.
