US STOCKS-Futures rise on Wachovia/Wells Fargo deal

NEW YORK, Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday following news that Wells Fargo (WFC.N) has agreed to acquire embattled banking group Wachovia Corp WB.N, scuppering a previously announced deal for Citigroup (C.N) to buy parts of Wachovia.

But even with the deal-related optimism, caution lingered as strains remained in the credit markets and investors fretted about the fate of the proposed $700 billion bailout to rescue the U.S. financial sector.

S&P 500 futures SPc1 rose 9.10 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1 climbed 55 points and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures gained 10.50 points. (Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Kenneth Barry)