Gold rises as M&A boosts stocks, pressures dollar NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures were up a little on Monday, after finishing last week lower, as a number of deals helped lift U.S. stock futures, while pressuring the dollar. Gold for December delivery recently gained 0.1% to $992.60 an ounce in electronic trade. Last week, it fell 1.9% as investors digested mixed U.S. economic data and stocks fell on Wall Street. But early Monday, three separate merger deals helped stock futures rise, with futures for the S&P 500 (SPX 1,051, +6.37, +0.61%) up 0.6% in recent action. "U.S. equities are on the mend, probing higher in pre-market trade after last week's late downward turbulence has been tempered by more M&A news picking up after stocks fell in Asia and bounced in Europe," said analysts at Action Economics. The dollar index (DXY 76.88, +0.23, +0.30%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, stood at 78.851 compared with 78.866 in early trade, but still up firmly from 76.774 late Friday. A lower dollar tends to boost dollar-denominated gold as it makes it cheaper for holders of other currencies, and also makes it more attractive as an investment asset. The U.S. currency has increasingly been at the center of a so-called carry trade. With interest rates effectively at zero in the U.S., global investors seeking risks and higher returns have increasingly borrowed risk-free dollars to invest in higher-yielding currencies and assets, such as stocks, commodities and in emerging markets.

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