* Adobe outlook beats expectation
* Alpha Natural Resources makes offer for Massey - report
* Futures up: Dow 36 pts, S&P 4.3 pts, Nasdaq 5.5 pts
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday as a higher earnings outlook from software maker Adobe Systems and another merger looked to add fuel to the December rally.
* Adobe Systems Inc forecast earnings late on Monday sharply above Wall Street's projections, contrasting with a pessimistic outlook three months ago. Its shares surged almost 7 in premarket trade.
* Alpha Natural Resources Inc made an offer for rival U.S. coal miner Massey Energy Co, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing members of Massey Energy's board. Massey has a market capitalization of about $5.2 billion.
* The U.S. stock market continues to make new highs after taking out key resistance levels. The S&P 500 has rallied nearly 6 percent so far this month, defying some expectations of a pullback, and is up around 21 percent from its lows this year.
* "It's all about the technical strength of the market," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "It looks as though the Santa year-end rally continues."
* S&P 500 futures rose 4.3 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 gained 36 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5.5 points.
* The S&P 500 has gained for the last 3 weeks. The index broke through the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the 2007-2009 bear market slide earlier this month. Technicians say the next stop is the 76.4 percent retracement at 1,362.
* Jabil Circuit Inc posted late on Monday first-quarter results that topped analyst estimates, helped by growth across segments, and forecast a robust second quarter, sending shares of the electronics manufacturing services provider up 3.5 percent in trading after the bell.
* European stocks were up 0.6 percent in morning trade in thin volume, with record-high copper prices helping mining stocks. Investors brushed aside Moody's warning it may downgrade Portugal's debt' rating.
* U.S. stocks tacked on further gains to push the S&P 500 to a two-year high on Monday, continuing a steady upward march investors say should continue in 2011.