U.S. futures higher ahead of ISM report; Dow Jones up 0.29%

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Monday, as investors eyed of a U.S. manufacturing report, while better-than-expected data from China and positive comments from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the "fiscal cliff" supported sentiment.

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.29% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.31% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.53% increase.

Sentiment strengthened after final data showed that China’s HSBC purchasing managers’ index came in at 50.5 in November from 49.5 in October, indicating that economic activity is picking up.

On Sunday, Timothy Geithner said that the Republicans would ultimately agree to raise tax rates on the rich to avert a fiscal crisis.

Markets have been jittery amid negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to avoid a set of spending cuts and tax increases due to come into effect on January 1 if U.S. lawmakers cannot reach an agreement on reducing the budget deficit.

Airline companies were likely to be in focus, after Singapore Airlines said it was in talks with interested parties, including Delta Airlines, to sell its 49% stake in British carrier Virgin Atlantic.

Separately, Boeing and the union that represents its 23,000 engineers tentatively agreed to resume labor talks on Tuesday, after their negotiations on a new contract ended abruptly on Thursday.

The media sector was also expected to be active, amid reports News Corp was expected to name Robert Thomson, a close confidant of Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, to lead its new publishing company by the end of next week.

In financial stocks, Bank of America was slated to move as it was said to be holding off on plans for new checking-account fees that could have affected some 10 million customers by year's end, avoiding a possible repeat of last year's protests over consumer banking fees.

Elsewhere, U.S. gravel producer Martin Marietta Materials was expected to make a friendly offer to buy rival Vulcan Materials, rather than attempt another hostile takeover, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rallied 0.96%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.97%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.72%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.44%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.19%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.13%.

Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to produce a report on manufacturing growth in the U.S.