By Steve Gelsi, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures on Monday rose to trade above $80 a barrel on rising equities futures and mildly positive U.S. economic data.
The government reported consumer spending rose 0.3% in January, further pointing toward economic recovery.
Commodity prices also took a cue from a handful of deals in global mergers and acquisitions, including AIG's agreement to sell off its Asia operations in a transaction valued at $35.5 billion. Separately, German conglomerate Merck KGaA said it's going to buy biotech firm Millipore for $7.2 billion.
Against this backdrop, crude futures for April delivery rose 57 cents to $80.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Also getting factored into the trading in energy, the dollar gained broadly against other major currencies. See Currencies for more on weakness in the British pound.
Copper futures also gained, up 6 cents to $3.33 a pound after Chile's major earthquake sparked concern over supplies.
