NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Merger news and falling oil prices were among the factors lifting stocks early Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 7.91 to 10,410.68, Charts), the broader S&P 500 (up 5.44 to 1,203.85, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (up 10.13 to 2,100.01, Charts) all gained shortly after the open.

Stocks jumped Friday, as investors welcomed a report showing strong economic growth in the third quarter, despite two massive hurricanes and surging oil prices.

The good cheer extended to early Monday, supported by falling oil prices.

U.S. light crude oil for December delivery slipped 62 cents to $60.60 a barrel in electronic trading.

In merger news, gold producer Barrick Gold (down $0.90 to $26.30, Research) said it has made a bid for rival Place Dome (up $3.27 to $19.78, Research), worth $9.2 billion in cash and stock.

Novartis, a Swiss drugmaker, said it would buy the remaining stake in U.S. vaccine maker Chiron (up $0.88 to $44.28, Research) for $5.1 billion, $600 million more than an earlier bid.

Spanish telecom provider Telefonica has agreed to buy mobile phone company O2 PLC for $31.6 billion.

The morning brought several economic readings.

September personal income rose 1.7 percent after falling a downwardly revised 0.9 percent in August. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would rise 0.4 percent. Personal spending rose 0.5 percent, in line with forecasts. Spending fell 0.5 percent in August.

The Chicago PMI, a reading on manufacturing in the Midwest region, was due shortly after the open. The index is expected to have fallen to 57.2 in October from 60.5 in September, according to estimates.

Treasury prices edged upward, with the yield on the 10-year note slipping to 4.56 percent from 4.57 percent late Friday.

The dollar gained versus the euro and yen.

COMEX gold fell $2.10 to $472.70 an ounce.

In global trade, major Asian markets ended higher and European shares gained at midday.