US STOCKS -Futures up on private equity buying spree

NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) U.S. stock index futures pointed to higher market open on Monday amid a flurry of takeover activity that may stir demand for equities and help indexes end the year at new highs.

Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. said on Monday it was offering to buy rival Caremark RX for about billion, threatening to disrupt a deal brokered last month with drugstore chain CVS Corp. For more details, see ID:nN18444011.

Realogy Corp., the owner of the Coldwell Banker franchise, said it agreed to be bought out by private equity firm Apollo Group for about .65 billion ID:nN17392784.

''There's very little today that can slow us down... There's the typical Monday M&A activity and the markets have acted extremely well,'' said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst for Jefferies&Co. in Boston. ''It's the end of the year, so if you've got some sales to make, why would you sell today and not wait a week and put off your tax bill for 12 months.'' S&P 500 futures were up 3.1 points, well above fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 21 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures up 5.75 points.

In other takeover news, orthopedic device maker Biomet Inc.

is the target of private equity firms, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter ID:nL18919976.

Shares of Terex Corp. rose 4 percent in trading after the market closed on Friday on news that Standard&Poor's added the construction and mining equipment maker to its S&P 500 index.

Terex shares rose to .48, up from their .13 New York Stock Exchange close. ID:nWEN1255 The sole S&P 500 component set to report results on Monday is software maker Oracle Corp.. The company will release its second-quarter earnings after the closing bell.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 28.76 points, or 0.23 percent, to end at 12,445.52. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index .SPX> added 1.60 points, or 0.11 percent, to finish at 1,427.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC> rose 3.35 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 2,457.20.

REUTERS KR HT1745