U.S. stock futures point to rally on rescue hopes
* U.S. stock index futures up 4.8-5.9 percent
* World equity markets surge on govt moves to shore up banks
* MUFG seeks better deal after Morgan Stanley shares tumble
PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were sharply higher on Monday, pointing to a rally on Wall Street as a flurry of moves by governments to restore confidence in the global financial system spurred a rebound in stocks worldwide.
By 0855 GMT, S&P 500 futures SPc1 were up 6 percent, Dow Jones futures DJc1 up 4.9 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures NDc1 up 5.4 percent.
European shares jumped 6.3 percent after European governments agreed to provide capital for banks short of funds because of frozen money markets and to insure or buy into new debt issues.
A rescue package for Germany's financial sector includes a fund to provide up to 400 billion euros ($548.9 billion) in guarantees for banks, a draft bill seen by Reuters on Monday showed.
Three major British banks -- Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), HBOS HBOS.L and Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) -- could take 37 billion pounds ($64 billion) in government money to boost their capital, the UK Treasury said.
Adding to the positive mood, the world's top central banks on Monday announced further measures to improve liquidity in short-term U.S. dollar funding markets.
"Authorities are now tackling the systemic risks with heavy artillery, and that should do the job," said Yann Lepape, chief global macro strategist at Oddo Securities in Paris.
"But beyond that, we're still facing a recession in the real economy. So we may get a rebound in stocks on the short term, but chances are that indexes will revisit the recent lows sometimes in the next few quarters."
M&A news will also keep banking stocks in focus. Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) is seeking more favourable terms to its $9 billion deal with Morgan Stanley (MS.N) after the U.S. bank's stock tumbled last week, a person briefed on the matter said.
The Japanese lender will still buy a 21 percent stake from Morgan Stanley for $9 billion, but will amend the terms to include only convertible preferred shares and no common stock, the source said.
Morgan Stanley shares traded in Frankfurt (MWD.F) were up 67 percent, while Citigroup (TRV.F) and Goldman Sachs (GS.F) were up 23-27 percent in Frankfurt. Continued...
