(By Balachander) U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on the Wall Street as investors look forward to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech later this week for any signs to spur economic growth.
Mini Dow Industrial Average futures rose 15 points to 13,171. The Nasdaq futures gained 19.00 points to 2,794. Standard and Poor's 500 futures added 4.50 points to 1,414.30.
Bernanke will speak in the Fed's annual symposium Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, while European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi is expected address the conference on Saturday.
Other keenly anticipated data scheduled to be released over the week include: personal income and spending, consumer confidence, pending home sales, weekly jobless claims, the preliminary second quarter GDP estimate and factory orders.
There are no U.S. economic data due on Monday.
On Friday, U.S. stocks rebounded to close in green after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the central bank can do more to stimulate the economy.
Hot Stocks Of The Day: AAPL, NOK, TIF, HTZ, DTG, AOL, DCI
In corporate news, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) won a major victory against rival Samsung over an ongoing patent dispute. The maker of iPhone and iPad has been awarded over $1 billion in damages after a jury found that Samsung had infringed on six Apple patents. The news also sent U.S.-listed shares of Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) soaring 9 percent in premarket.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) gained 5.78 percent in premarket. The jeweler reduced its 2012 forecast and the company's second-quarter earnings trailed market expectations amid sharp contraction of margins. Its net earnings increased 2 percent and sales rose 1.6 percent.
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE:DTG) jumped 7.32 percent in premarket after the car rental company agreed to be acquired by its bigger rival Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTZ) for $87.50 per share, 8 percent premium to its previous closing price. HTX shares soared 15.82 percent.
AOL Inc. (NYSE:AOL) added 4.62 percent in premarket after the Web services company announced a $5.15 per share special cash dividend as part of its plans to return $1.1 billion to shareholders.
Donaldson Co Inc. (NYSE:DCI) rose 5.44 percent in premarket after the maker of filtration systems reported a 8 percent growth in quarterly earnings on strong sales growth across its segments.
Deltek Inc. (NASDAQ:PROJ), a provider of enterprise software, agreed to be taken private by Thoma Bravo LLC for roughly $1.1 billion or $13 per share in cash.
Global Markets:
European markets traded higher, with Germany's DAX up 0.90 percent to trade at 7,034.12. France's CAC40 rose 0.67 percent to 3,456.26. U.K.'s FTSE 100 is shut for a bank holiday.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index declined 1.74 percent to finish at 2,055.71. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.16 percent to end at 9,085.39. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index retreated 0.41 percent to end at 19,798.67. India's BSE Sensex closed at 17,678.81, down 0.59 percent.
Market Scan:
Ahead of the opening bell, crude oil futures jumped 1.15 percent to $97.26 per barrel. Gold futures slipped 0.05 percent to $1,672.0 per ounce.
In the currency market, the euro added 0.13 percent against the U.S. dollar to 1.2529 and the British pound inched up 0.03 percent to 1.5816. The dollar advanced 0.06 percent against the Japanese yen to 78.7200.