US STOCKS-Futures point higher on M&A; Asia, Europe up

NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) U.S. stock index futures signaled a slightly higher market open on Monday amid a large trans-Atlantic corporate acquisition in the drug sector and a positive finish for stocks in Asia.

U.S. pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough said it will buy Organon BioSciences, a unit of Dutch drug maker Akzo Nobel , for .5 billion ID:nL12598214. The deal helped to lift stock indexes in Europe.

Tokyo's Nikkei closed higher, turning positive for the year.

Data released on Monday showed Japan's economy expanded 1.3 percent in the final quarter of last year ID:nT165955.

''Japan's revising its economic growth is just one more indicator that the global economy is on solid footing.'' said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York. ''Lately the U.S. market has been taking its cues from Asia.'' S&P 500 futures were up 1.3 points, 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 gained 16 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 6.5 points.

Stocks rose last week, recovering some of the ground lost in global equities sell-off that began on Feb. 27.

Investors will keep a close eye on subprime mortgage lenders which have fallen sharply in the past month.

New Century Financial Corp., the largest independent U.S.

subprime mortgage lender said it received letters from one of its lenders saying some of its subsidiaries had failed to meet margin calls. ID:nWEN5284. New Century's stock lost about three-quarters of its value last week.

Wachovia cut its rating on Countrywide Financial Corp. to underperform, saying the mortgage lender's earnings are likely to be under pressure throughout the first half of 2007, primarily due to higher credit costs and lower production margins. Wachovia added that it is concerned that weakness in secondary market liquidity has spread to other sectors of the residential mortgage market ID:nWNA2643.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 15.62 points, or 0.13 percent, to end at 12,276.32. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index .SPX> inched up 0.96 of a point, or 0.07 percent, to finish at 1,402.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC> dipped 0.18 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to close at 2,387.55.

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