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* Obama to seek congressional authorization for Syria action
* Verizon falls in premarket, agrees to a deal with Vodafone
* Nokia ADRs soar in premarket on deal with Microsoft
* Futures up: Dow 105 pts, S&P 13 pts, Nasdaq 22.75 pts
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures jumpedon Tuesday after U.S. President Barack Obama opted to seekcongressional authorization for military action against Syria, amove that was likely to delay any strike for at least severaldays.
Equities have recently been pressured by the prospect of aWestern strike against Syria after chemical weapons were used tokill civilians. The geopolitical uncertainty contributed tosteep losses in August, which marked the worst month for the S&P500 since May 2012.
Congress returns from its summer recess on Sept. 9, and anyvote to authorize a strike will come after that. While Obama hasbeen pushing Congress to back his plan, passage is by no meanscertain, further easing concerns over an imminent strike.
"There was tremendous fear going into the weekend that theworst-case scenario, some kind of military action, would occur.Now the market is breathing a sigh of relief," said Adam Sarhan,chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.
U.S. crude futures dipped 0.4 percent. Oil spiked 2.5percent in August, with the increase largely driven by concernsthat military action in the Middle East would impact crudesupplies.
"It isn't as though the threat has gone away, but the fallin oil prices is helping to alleviate pressure," Sarhan said.
Verizon Communications agreed on Monday to pay $130billion to buy Vodafone Group out of its U.S.wireless business, bringing an end to an often tense 14-yearmarriage.
Shares of Verizon, a Dow component, fell 4.8 percent to$45.10 in premarket trading while U.S. shares of Vodafone lost1.5 percent to $31.87.
Also in deal news, Nokia Corp agreed to sell itshandset business to Microsoft Corp for $7.2 billion,sending its U.S. shares up 42 percent to $5.54 before the bell.Microsoft fell 4 percent to $32.08.
S&P 500 futures rose 13 points and were above fairvalue, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into accountinterest rates, dividends and time to expiration on thecontract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 105points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 22.75 points.
The U.S. stock market was closed on Monday for Labor Day andtrading volume could continue its recent trend of being lightwith many traders away for the holiday.
In the S&P, investors will be watching the 100-day movingaverage at 1,639.42, which the index has been unable to closeabove since Aug. 26. Holding over that level would be a positivesign of near-term momentum.
While the uncertainty related to Syria has been the market'sprimary driver in recent sessions, investors will also pay closeattention to the latest economic data, which could provide someinsight into when the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin to slowits monetary stimulus program.
The Institute for Supply Management's August manufacturingsector data is due at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) with analysts expectingthe main index to fall to 54 from 55.4 last month. Julyconstruction spending is also scheduled for release at 10 a.m.,and is seen rising 0.3 percent.
Shares of J.C. Penney Co rose 2.6 percent to $12.80in premarket trading after Hayman Capital reported a 5.2 percentpassive stake in the retailer.
CBS Corp on Monday reached an agreement with TimeWarner Cable Inc to end a month-long blackout of itsstations in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. Financial terms ofthe deal were not disclosed.
H&R Block is the only S&P 500 company scheduled toreport quarterly results on Tuesday.
Wall Street stocks have been coming off an extended periodof weakness, with all three major indexes falling more than 1percent last week and notching steep losses in August.
