[R]9:00AM Stock futures pointed to a flat opening, with merger activity in the spotlight.[/R]
U.S. stock market futures indicated a flat market opening on Monday after a week of solid gains, followed by a weekend of deal making. Among pre-market highlights, Alltel (AT: chart) rose 7% as it agreed Sunday to be taken private by investment firms TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners for $27.5 billion, or $71.50 a share. In other corporate news, General Electric (GE: chart) agreed to sell its plastic business to Saudi Basic Industries in a $11.6 billion deal. Hologic (HOLX: chart) agreed to acquire Cytyc (CYTC: chart) for $6.2 billion, or $16.50 a share in cash and 0.52 of Hologic shares. The deal represents a 33% premium to Friday''s close.

Further in merger-and-acquisition news, Atlas Energy Resources (ATN: chart) agreed to buy 2,150 natural gas wells producing from the Antrim Shale from DTE Energy (DTE: chart) for $1.23 billion in cash. Yahoo (YHOO: chart) is expected to offer $1 billion to buy Bebo, a leading U.K. social networking site. Virgin Media (VMED: chart) jumped 9% amid speculations that private-equity groups may try to buy the U.K. cable operator. On the earnings-news front, Lowe’s (LOW: chart) posted a 12% profit drop, citing the housing market and last year''s hurricane rebuilding activities. There is no major economic news due out today. Statistics on housing sales and durable-goods orders are due out later in the week. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 of a point at 1,528.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.75 points at 1,908.50. Dow industrial futures rose 16 points.


[R]8:15AM Alltel agreed to be taken private for $27.5 billion.[/R]
Alltel Corp. (AT: chart) announced an agreement on Sunday to be taken private by investment firms TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners in a deal worth $27.5 billion. The buyout of the nation''s largest U.S. cell-phone provider by geographic area will be the biggest in the U.S. telecommunications industry.

Alltel has 12 million subscribers, the fifth-largest among major cell-phone companies. It has 15,000 employees. Alltel''s CEO Scott Ford said no changes are planned in staffing, and he will still be chief executive. The offer values the company at $71.50 per share in cash, a premium of 10% over Friday''s close. The deal is subject to Alltel''s shareholders’ approval. The deal, which is expected to close by March 2008, must also be approved by regulators.


[R]7:30AM NY-6:30 PM Mumbai Sensex gains Monday on strong banking, metal and oil stocks.[/R]

The Sensex on BSE ended Monday 115.19 points, or 0.81%, higher at 14,418.60.

The market-breadth was positive as 1,395 stocks advanced, 1,194 declined and only 74 stocks remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 16 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,559 crore, compared to Rs 4,696 crore on Friday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 9,918 crore, much lower than Rs 9,810 crore on Friday.

Economic news

The rupee advanced to a fresh nine-year high on Monday as investors were inclined to think the Reserve Bank of India would not interfere with the gains of the rupee against the dollar after China widened the yuan''s trading band against the dollar.

The government announced that wheat purchasing in the ongoing Rabi marketing season has crossed 100 lakh tonnes, including more than six lakh tonnes bought by Punjab Government for its own use.

Trading highlights

Reliance Energy was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 732.30 crore followed by Adlabs and Reliance Capital.

Advancers

Reliance Energy led the gainers, surging 8.5% to Rs 555. Three block deals of 44.10 lakh shares were traded in the stock at an average price of Rs 513 per share in opening trade. Tata Steel soared 5.6% to Rs 624 on fresh buying tracking strong fourth-quarter results announced late last week. Tata Steel had rallied over the past few weeks after the company last month announced attractively priced (Rs 300) rights issue in the ratio of 1:5, and also on hopes of strong fourth quarter results.

Index heavy Reliance Industries surged 3.7% to Rs 1,762. It struck an all-time high of Rs 1,780, on market rumors that it is likely to come out with rights issue. Reliance rejected media reports that the company is likely to miss the June 2008 deadline for commercial production of gas from the Krishna Godavari basin.

ONGC and HDFC Bank rallied over 2.5% each to Rs 933 and Rs 1,100, respectively. ONGC gained after Brent crude oil rose 28 cents to $69.70 a barrel on Monday, May 21 2007, while US benchmark crude gained 20 cents to $65.14, boosted by concerns over supplies from major exporters Iran and Nigeria.

ITC advanced over 2% to Rs 171, and Maruti advanced nearly 2% at Rs 823. Reliance Communications ended up 1.7% to Rs 505, and SBI added 1.5% to Rs 1,345. HDFC was up over 1% at Rs 1,720.

Decliners