Stock index futures inch higher as M&A in focus

* On the M&A front, consumer goods giant Unilever Plc/N said it had agreed to buy United States-based hair care group Alberto Culver Co for $3.7 billion in cash. Shares of Alberto Culver traded in Frankfurt were up 15 percent.

* Wal-Mart Stores offered more than $4 billion for South African wholesaler Massmart as the world's largest retailer seeks to expand in fast-growing Africa.

* French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis is seeking to line up more funding to potentially raise its $18.5 billion bid for Genzyme Corp, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Genzyme shares traded in Frankfurt were up 1.4 percent.

* M&T Bank Corp's negotiations to buy Sovereign Bank, a unit of Banco Santander, have stalled over disagreements as to who would control the combined entity, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

* Pre-orders for Apple Inc's iPhone 4 in China have exceeded 200,000 units since the handsets went on sale on Saturday, China Unicom said, adding that it has stopped taking online orders because of strong demand.

* French conglomerate Vivendi said it had sold an initial chunk of its 20 percent stake in U.S. media group NBC Universal to General Electric for $2 billion as it shifts its acquisition strategy. Vivendi said it would sell the remaining 12.34 percent it owns in NBC to GE for $3.8 billion after the completion of a GE transaction with new NBC owner Comcast, as per an agreement set out in late 2009.

* On the earnings front, Jabil Circuit and Paychex feature among the companies due to report earnings. On the macroeconomic side, investors await the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for August and the Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index for August.

* European stocks were up 0.3 percent in morning trade, extending Friday's sharp gains, with food and beverages shares featuring among the top gainers on news that Unilever is to acquire Alberto Culver.

* Oil rose toward $77 a barrel, near a two-week high, supported by cautious optimism over the strength of U.S. economic recovery and the outlook for energy demand.

* U.S. stocks notched their fourth week of gains on Friday as investors used a rise in business spending to revive the September rally after three days of losses.

* The Dow Jones industrial average was up 197.84 points, or 1.86 percent, at 10,860.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index

finished up 23.82 points, or 2.12 percent, at 1,148.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 54.14 points, or 2.33 percent, at 2,381.22.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Michael Shields)