* Investors look to data later in week
* Oil futures rise 1 pct
* Futures up: S&P 500 by 3.1 pts, Dow by 25, Nasdaq by 3.5 (Updates prices, recasts)
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Wall St was set for a modestly higher open on Monday as investors remained positive about the prospects for an economic recovery and looked ahead to data later in the holiday-shortened week.
Oil futures jumped 1 percent to near $70 per barrel after falling late last week. Chevron Corp rose 0.5 percent to $66.30, while Exxon Mobil Corp added 0.7 percent to $69.50.
U.S. stocks have run up as much as 40 percent since early March but have drifted recently as investors looked for signs to justify earlier optimism over an economic economy that partly drove the rally.
The main focus this week will be the June jobs report set for Thursday instead of Friday, when U.S. markets will be closed due to the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
Other key economic data will include the Conference Board's June consumer confidence report and the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index of June business activity in the U.S. Midwest, both due Tuesday, as well as the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) June reading on manufacturing set for Wednesday.
"We're probably going to stay pretty steady for the next two days, then we've got holiday volumes on Wednesday and Thursday. But there's some big news out with the ISM and the jobs report being the catalyst for the direction of the market," said Marc Pado, market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.
"You're going to see some volatility. It's going to be easier to move markets around. A good number could pop the market, and a bad number could hurt it," said Pado, referring to the ISM and jobs data.
S&P 500 futures rose 3.10 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 25 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 3.50 points.
Analysts noted the market may also be affected by end-of-quarter "window dressing" as portfolio managers sell stocks with big losses and buy some of the quarter's best-performing issues to help improve their returns, a process that can add to volatility.
Shares of State Street Corp slid 1.9 percent to $47.44 in premarket trade after the company said it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding some active fixed-income strategies. The company said the agency may bring a civil enforcement action related to possible violations of the securities laws.
Oil companies face tough time ahead as refining margins will remain weak for the next five years, with tighter environmental regulations sucking profits, the International Energy Agency said Monday.
Also, the IEA executive director said in an interview he remains very concerned that too rapid an oil price rise could derail any economic recovery.
Consulting firms Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby and Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc said Sunday they plan to merge in an all-stock deal valued at about $3.5 billion in hopes of cutting costs amid an economic slump that has caused clients to curb discretionary spending.
Shares in Watson Wyatt fell 2.5 percent to $40.15 before the bell.
With corporate earnings and economic data calendars virtually free of any market-moving events on Monday, the sentencing of confessed swindler Bernard Madoff will be in the spotlight.
At a court hearing due to begin at 10 a.m. EDT, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin is expected by legal observers to sentence Madoff, 71, to what would effectively be a life term in prison.
Big-cap technology company Microsoft Corp rose 1.1 percent before the bell to $23.61. Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the stock to $30 from $22.