NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose Monday, receiving a lift amid economic optimism ahead of key U.S. data this week. Several U.S. reports this week, including third-quarter gross domestic product, are expected to show the economy remains on the mend. Investors also await Tuesday's Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting where the cartel is expected to leave its production quotas unchanged. Crude for January delivery, the front-month contract that expires at the end of Monday's trading, was last up 0.9% at $73.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The more actively traded February contract rose 0.7% to $74.94. OPEC ministers are scheduled to meet in Angola. Abdalla Salem el-Badri, secretary-general of the cartel, said Monday "there is a consensus that there is no change [in output levels]," according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires. "Look for OPEC to focus more on quota compliance during tomorrow's meeting," said Brian Niemiec, an analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group, adding that cold weather, weaker dollar, and renewed geopolitical tensions could give crude a boost in the short term. TODAY'S TOP MARKET STORIES DOW INDUSTRIALS (DJIA) 12,00010,0008,0006,000 FAJAO • Market Snapshot: U.S. stocks in focus • Sign up for free, breaking-news email alerts Equities by Sector • Technology stocks | Energy stocks • Metals stocks | Retail stocks • Financials | Airline stocks | Pharma and Biotech More on the Markets • Bond Report | Oil News | EarningsWatch • Currencies | Market Data | Economic Calendar Last week, OPEC said in its monthly report that the 11 members bound by production quotas produced 26.6 million barrels a day of crude in November, up for an eighth straight month. The cartel's rate of compliance with its quotas fell to 58% last month, according to a MarketWatch calculation. That's the lowest level since the cartel said it will cut production by 4.2 million barrels a day starting from the beginning of this year. "We suspect prices could ease somewhat after the OPEC announcement [tomorrow], as participants will be reminded that OPEC will not be doing anything to tighten supplies anytime soon," said Edward Meir, an analyst at MF Global, in a note. Since hitting $82 a barrel on Oct. 21, the highest level in more than a year, crude has mostly been falling. It slumped below $70 last week, the lowest level in more than two months. On Friday, crude finished higher on reports that Iranian forces took over an oil well in a disputed region in the south of Iraq. In currencies trading Monday, the dollar fell against the euro, with the European currency up 0.2% at $1.4362. The dollar index (DXY 77.86, +0.09, +0.11%) was down 0.3% at 77.618. A weaker dollar tends to boosted dollar-denominated commodities prices. In other energy trading, January gasoline futures rose 1.1% to $1.915 a gallon, January heating oil added 1.6% to $1.9877 a gallon, and January natural gas slid 0.3% to $5.763 per million British thermal units. Natural gas jumped to an 11-month high Thursday after a report showed weekly U.S. stockpiles dropped sharply as cold temperatures across much of the nation boosted use of heating fuels. The United States Oil Fund (USO 36.94, +0.28, +0.76%) rose 1%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG 10.45, -0.17, -1.60%) lost 0.9%.

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