US Stocks rise after Bank of America's results

Stock futures rose on Monday as Bank of America (BAC.N) posted quarterly results that buoyed hopes about the financial services sector, while Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) proposed to buy the portion of biotech company Genentech it doesn't already own for $43.7 billion.

Shares of Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank, jumped more than 6 percent before the bell after it became the latest major bank to exceed Wall Street estimates, supporting the view that some in the financial sector were weathering the credit crisis.

Other recent financial results that have encouraged investors included Citigroup (C.N), Wells Fargo (WFC.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).

"We're seeing a pattern here with the banks where I think analysts really had low-ball forecasts, and we've seen basically every bank come out and beat the numbers," said Matt McCall, president of Penn Financial Group in Denver, Colorado.

"It's not something I can come out and say this is definitely the bottom, but it is a bottoming process. The key word is improvement over the last quarter."

S&P 500 futures rose 6.10 points and were 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 rose 59 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 15.75 points.

The deal news from Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche bolstered confidence in stock valuations. Roche offered to buy all outstanding shares in U.S. partner Genentech Inc (DNA.N), the world's second-largest biotechnology company, to reinforce Roche's position in anti-cancer medicines.

Roche already owns 55.9 percent of Genentech, whose shares jumped 16.6 percent to $95.40 before the bell.

Even though Bank of America's profit in the second-quarter fell for fourth straight quarter, it still topped analysts' forecasts, sending its stock to $29.24 before the bell.

Financials looked set to extend the gains seen through last week, with the XLF, the financial sector's electronic traded fund or ETF , up 2.5 percent before the bell.

In other banking news, the Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs' Ken Wilson will temporarily leave the firm to advise U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on how to resolve the country's banking crisis. The newspaper cited people familiar with the matter.

Shares of Yahoo (YHOO.O) are among stocks to watch after the Internet media company announced that billionaire investor Carl Icahn will be appointed to its board of directors.

After sharp losses last week, U.S. light crude for August delivery rose $2.72, or 2.1 percent, to $131.60 a barrel.

In Friday's trading, technology stocks ended lower on Friday and drove the Nasdaq down 1 percent on disappointing earnings from Google (GOOG.O) and Microsoft(MSFT.O), but Citigroup's smaller-than-expected loss pushed up the Dow and kept the broader market near the unchanged mark.

(Agencies)