U.S. futures rise on optimism over Greek deal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were higher on Monday on optimism that Greece may be able to strike a last-minute deal with its international creditors to avert a default.

* EU Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said he was "convinced" that euro zone leaders holding an emergency meeting in Brussels on Monday would find a way out of the Greek crisis.

* Global stocks were higher on Monday with European shares hitting their highest level in over a week on the hope of a solution to Greece's debt crisis.

* U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday as Greek worries weighed but the three major indexes were higher for the week on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve's planned rate hike will be slower than previously anticipated.

* Sales of previously owned homes likely recovered last month, data from the National Association of Realtors is

expected to show. Economists expect existing home sales to have jumped 4.4 percent to a 5.26 million unit-rate in May. The data is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET

* The futures were also boosted by M&A chatter over the weekend as companies rush to make the best of the zero-rate interest environment before an expected hike this year.

* Cigna's shares rose 8.2 percent to $168 in premarket trading after the health insurer rebuffed Anthem's $47 billion merger proposal on Sunday. Anthem inched up 0.3 percent to $165.50.

* Humana was up 2.9 percent at $208.25 as sources said Cigna along with Aetna are participating in an auction to acquire the company. Aetna was up 0.7 percent at $125.

* Williams Cos jumped 28.8 percent to $62.25 after Energy Transfer Equity confirmed it had made a $48 billion unsolicited bid for the natural gas pipeline company. Williams rejected the offer as too low.

* Fitbit rose 7.7 percent to $34.98, building on last week's impressive IPO, which valued the maker of wearable fitness-tracking devices at $6.5 billion.

Futures snapshot at 7:17 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 16 points, or 0.76 percent, with 150,178 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 37.5 points, or 0.83 percent, on volume of 20,139 contracts.

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 132 points, or 0.74 percent, with 17,138 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by Don Sebastian)

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