Author: Elena Todorova
123jump.com
Last Update: 9:05 AM EDT July 23 2007

U.S. stock futures moved to the upside on Monday, boosted by a multibillion-dollar deal in the oil drilling sector as well as stronger-than-expected earnings from drug makers Merck and Schering-Plough. In buyout news, Transocean and GlobalSantaFe said that they agreed to combine to form a $53 billion drilling contractor. Pharmaceutical giant Merck climbed 4.5% in pre-open trade amid 12% increase in Q2 profit. Schering-Plough rose 3.7% after it said its Q2 profit more than doubled.