* General Dynamics off after jet crashes in test flight
* Southwest Airlines shares fall after plane groundings
* Pfizer to sell unit to KKR for about $2.4 billion
* Futures up: Dow 20 pts, S&P 3 pts, Nasdaq 9.5 pts (Updates prices, comment)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open slightly higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 facing a level where selling has clustered in recent sessions.
S&P 500 futures traded in a tight range below 1,333. The benchmark has been unable to close above that level since mid-February, although the index briefly pierced it on Friday.
That level is double the 12-year low hit in March 2009 and is not far from 1,344, the S&P's 2011 high and its highest since June 2008.
On Friday, the S&P closed its best two-week period since December and the Dow industrials (.DJI: Quote, Profile, Research) hit its highest intraday level since June 2008.
"The speed with which we moved up is putting a bit of a curb on a further rally," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in New York.
"Certainly there are plenty of traders who will be using this run-up to try and take profits and get back at a better point. It's hard to maintain the speed of this advance," he said.
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The lack of significant economic data on Monday, nuclear and other quake-related problems in Japan and unrest in Libya, Syria and other states in the oil-rich region could translate into low volumes in Wall Street. Last week was the lowest in volume so far in 2011.
S&P 500 futures (SPc1: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 3 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures (DJc1: Quote, Profile, Research) gained 20 points and Nasdaq 100 futures (NDc1: Quote, Profile, Research) added 9.5 points.
Shares of defense contractor General Dynamics (GD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) dropped 3.7 percent to $74.55 premarket after its business-jet unit Gulfstream Aerospace said a jet crashed during a test flight on Saturday, killing two pilots and two flight-test engineers.
Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares dropped 2.8 percent to $12.31 in premarket trading after planes were grounded for inspection. A U.S. safety investigator said on Sunday evidence of widespread fuselage cracks was found on a jet that made an emergency landing with a hole in the cabin. For details see [ID:nWEN0436].
In the latest acquisition news, Pfizer Inc (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 0.7 percent to $20.53 after the drugmaker agreed to sell its Capsugel unit, the world's largest maker of hard capsules, to private equity firm KKR & Co (KKR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for nearly $2.4 billion.
"Today will be influenced a little by takeovers in the marketplace and further gains in commodities," LibertyView's Meckler said.
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (ICE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) face serious hurdles to their unsolicited bid for NYSE Euronext (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), that could prevent their offer from being accepted. [ID:nN01259828].
Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) is holding off on making any decision as to whether to raise its rival offer for NYSE Euronext, two sources familiar with Deutsche Boerse's thinking said on Monday. [ID:nLDE7330LT]. Shares of NYSE Euronext dipped 0.9 percent to $39.25 premarket.
Nervousness over the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa helped lift oil prices, with Brent crude (LCOc1: Quote, Profile, Research) rising to near $120 a barrel and U.S. crude hitting a 2-1/2-year high above $108. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
US STOCKS-Wall St set to rise at open, faces resistance
