Stocks poised to rally
Better-than-expected earnings from Bank of America, Yahoo-Icahn settlement boost futures; Genentech in focus.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures climbed Monday morning as investors cheered better-than-expected earnings from Bank of America and the announcement of a deal between Yahoo and activist investor Carl Icahn.
At 8:23 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher and suggesting a robust start for Wall Street.
Stocks ended a volatile session mixed Friday, with blue chips getting a boost but tech shares faltering.
Financials: Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) said net income fell 41% to $3.4 billion, or 72 cents a share, on revenue of $20.32 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected the company to earn 53 cents a share on revenue of $18.37 billion.
Results in the financial sector have been mixed so far this reporting period. Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) both posted solid results last week, while Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) posted a hefty loss.
Yahoo-Icahn: In the tech sector, Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) said Icahn would join its board. The deal ends a proxy battle that threatened to throw the Internet firm into deeper uncertainty.
Drugs: Biotech Genentech (DNA) is likely to move after Roche Holding said Monday it was offering $43.7 billion to buy the 44% of the company that it does not already own.
Drugmakers Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) and Schering-Plough (SGP, Fortune 500) pushed back their earnings reports until after the market close. The companies said they first wanted investors to see the results of a study of combo cholesterol medicine Vytorin, to be released Monday.
Analysts expect to Merck to report earnings of 83 cents per share on revenue of $6.05 billion and Schering-Plough to report earnings of 39 cents per share on revenue of $10.31 billion, according to Thomson Financial polls.
Apple: The iPod maker posts results after the market close. Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) earnings will be closely watched after tech heavyweights Google and Microsoft both reported results last week that fell short of analysts' estimates.
Economy: A report on leading economic indicators is due at 10 a.m. ET. Economists fear the LEI may have turned negative due to lower consumer spending, according to a Thomson Financial poll. Negative LEI would mean a decrease in the U.S.'s economic growth rate.
Energy: Oil prices rebounded after last week's slide, climbing over $130 a barrel in electronic trading over concerns that little progress was made with Iran after weekend diplomatic talks.
Other markets: Most stocks in Asia finished the session higher. Japan markets were closed for a public holiday. European markets fell in early trading. 
