Stock futures higher after Friday sell-off, earnings eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures advanced on Monday, indicating the S&P 500 may bounce from its worst decline since late June ahead of earnings from companies including Caterpillar and Freeport-McMoRan.

* The benchmark S&P index fell 2.2 percent on Friday, its biggest daily drop since June 21, after Dow components General Electric and McDonald's , both barometers of the overall economy, added to a disappointing earnings season.

* SunTrust Banks Inc's third-quarter profit surged as the bank gained from the accelerated sale of its shares in Coca-Cola Co that produced a pre-tax gain of $1.9 billion.

* Hasbro Inc , the No. 2 U.S. toy company, reported a lower quarterly profit on Monday, hurt by a fall in sales in its boys and preschool product lines.

* Along with Caterpillar Inc and Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc , investors can expect earnings from Yahoo Inc , Peabody Energy Corp and Texas Isntruments Inc .

* According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday, of the 106 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, 62 percent have topped analysts' expectations, matching the average since 1994 but below the 67 percent average over the past four quarters. Earnings are expected to fall 1.8 percent in the third quarter from a year ago.

* But top-line expectations have dampened investor optimism, with 58 percent of companies having missed on revenue expectations.

* S&P 500 futures rose 4.9 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 44 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 16.5 points.

* Rosneft and BP are preparing to announce a deal worth over $25 billion that could give the British oil company a stake of between 16 and 20 percent in the state-controlled Russian energy firm, sources familiar with the situation said.

* U.S. agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland has bid $2.8 billion for GrainCorp , sending shares in Australia's last independent grains handler soaring, as markets bet on a higher offer price or rival bids being flushed out.

* Ancestry.com Inc said that it will be acquired by a group led by Europe-based private equity firm Permira in a $1.6 billion deal.

* European stocks pared early losses and turned slightly positive as renewed expectations that Spain was moving closer to seeking a bailout eclipsed worries over corporate results. <.EU>

* Asian shares fell as lackluster earnings from leading U.S. companies and a sharp drop in Japan's exports, a key driver of the world's third-biggest economy, dented risk appetites and prompted investors to take profits on recent gains.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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