Wall Street set to rise ahead of data

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were on track to begin the third quarter on a positive note in a truncated session on Monday, while investors awaited data for more clues on the health of the economy.

Trading volume is expected to be light, with the U.S. market closing early at 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT). It will be shut on Tuesday for Independence Day.

On Friday, the S&P 500 scored its biggest gain for the first half of the year since 2013, while the Nasdaq Composite's first-half gain was its best in eight years.

"The start to the third quarter is getting off on a promising note as the futures point to a higher opening in pre-holiday volume," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial.

"On the domestic front, we look for mixed-to-positive manufacturing data and a slight uptick in construction spending. In this abbreviated trading session, we look for positive market action as investors focus turns to the economy."

The Institute for Supply Management's U.S. factory activity for June is expected to have increased to a reading of 55.1 from 54.9 in May. The data is expected at 10 a.m. ET.

U.S. construction spending is likely to have rebounded 0.2 percent in May from a 1.4 percent dip recorded in April.

Dow e-minis (1YMc1) were up 67 points, or 0.31 percent, with 18,214 contracts changing hands at 8:31 a.m. ET (1231 GMT).

S&P 500 e-minis (ESc1) were up 7.75 points, or 0.32 percent, with 109,733 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis (NQc1) were up 19.75 points, or 0.35 percent, on volume of 22,362 contracts.

U.S. companies will start reporting second-quarter results in the coming weeks and investors will be keen on knowing as to how their earnings stack up against lofty market valuations.

The S&P 500 companies are expected to post an 8 percent rise in earnings, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The S&P 500 index has been trading at about 18 times forward earnings, compared with the long-term average of 15 times.

Shares of Tesla (O:TSLA) were up 2 percent in premarket trading after the luxury electric-car maker said it would deliver its mass-market Model 3 sedan to first 30 customers on July 28.

Bank of America (N:BAC) edged up 0.8 percent after Berkshire Hathaway (N:BRKa) invoked its right to acquire 700 million shares of the bank, making it the lender's top shareholder.

Bankrate (N:RATE) jumped 9 percent after the company said it would be bought by digital marketing company Red Ventures for $1.24 billion.