U.S. stock index futures rose about 1 percent on Monday, looking to snap a three-session losing streak as commodity and natural resource stocks gained on a falling U.S. dollar.

James Bullard, the St. Louis Federal Reserve president, said Sunday the central bank should extend its mortgage-related assets purchase program to give policy-makers more flexibility as they help the economy recover from a painful recession.

The U.S. dollar index <.DXY> dropped 0.8 percent on Monday, while January crude futures jumped 1.3 percent to $78.45 per barrel. Gold hit a new record high at $1,167.45 an ounce.

The dollar is pulling back, and the trend has been that a weak dollar pushes up commodities and lifts stocks, said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co in New York.

After the dip we just had, you'll see an influx of buyers, which could lift the market possibly more than 1 percent across the board, he added.

S&P 500 futures rose 11.5 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 95 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 17 points.

According to a survey released on Monday, the National Association for Business Economists boosted its forecast for economic growth over the next year, though it also said the jobless rate would remain high.

Hewlett-Packard Co , the last Dow component to report quarterly results, is scheduled after the market closes. Campbell Soup Co is also set to report.

Monday's economic data will include October existing home sales.

Ciena Corp will buy Nortel Networks Corp's optical networking and carrier ethernet unit for $769 million after trumping Nokia Siemens Networks in a three-day auction, sources told Reuters on Sunday.

Microsoft Corp has talked with News Corp about a tie-up that would involve News getting paid to take its news websites off Google Inc , a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

China's annual economic growth will reach 10 percent this quarter and rise even faster in the first quarter of 2010, an official of the State Council Development Research Center said on Monday.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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