News that battered insurer AIG is selling its Asian business for $35.5bn is likely to get the week off to a bright start, while economic data failed to rattle any cages.

Futures prices point to a 30-point advance in early trade as the UK's Prudential said it will launch a record $21bn (£14bn) rights issue to fund the AIG deal, which includes $25bn in cash.

AIG, bailed out by the US government to the tune of about $180bn, will put the cash towards repaying the American taxpayer.

On the data side, personal income rose just 0.1% in January, less than the 0.5% increase predicted by analysts, while personal spending rose 0.5% versus expectations of a 0.3% advance.

The ISM manufacturing index is seen falling to 57.8 in February from 58.4 the month before, although a read of over 50 still indicates expansion.

In the press, private equity firm TPG has emerged as the leading candidate to purchase Dow Chemical's Styron plastics business, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Dow has been auctioning the business, which makes rubber, latex and polystyrene, for a number of months, and is expected to receive more than $1.5bn for the unit. A deal could be announced as early as this week, the Wall St Journal reports.

Warren Buffett presided over one of the strongest growth spurts in Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s 45-year history in 2009, he said in his annual shareholder letter Saturday. He also delivered another message to investors: Don't get used to it.

The conglomerate, which sells everything from ice cream to machine tools to house paint, reported that its book value gained 19.8% to $84,487 per share in 2009 from the prior year, based on a metric the company uses to track performance. It was the strongest such gain since 2003, says the Wall St Journal.

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