Quiet day expected ahead of jobs data on Thursday By William L. Watts and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock index futures traded flat to slightly lower Monday as investors prepared to lock in the biggest second-quarter gains since 2009 and awaited data later this week on jobs. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJU4 -0.01% slipped 22 points, or 0.1%, to 16,735, while S&P 500 futures SPU4 -0.02% lost 2 points, or 0.1%, to 1,950. The Nasdaq 100 index NDU4 +0.05% was unchanged at 3,831.50. “Equities are on track for their fifth straight month of gains as investors continue to shrug off market concerns and carry on embracing risk. However, the current lofty market levels are creating concerns that global central banks are storing up dangerous risks of excessive leverage as they pursue overly stimulative policy for too long,� said Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investors in London, in a note. The schedule for data was generally light, but at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time, the Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index for June is scheduled for release. Economists polled by MarketWatch project a reading of 64.3. In May, the business barometer accelerated to 65.5, the highest level of the PMI since October. The National Association of Realtors’ gauge of pending home-sales for May is due at 10 a.m. Eastern. The April reading showed a rise of 0.4%. Financial stocks may see action during the session, as the U.S. Justice Department is expected to announce BNP Paribas will pay nearly $9 billion in a settlement for allegedly engaging in transactions with sanctioned countries. Executives at the French bank had admitted it had been processing potentially illicit dollar transactions with countries on Washington’s blacklist years after the U.S. began investigating the lender. Also read: MannKind, American Apparel among stocks to watch This week will be shortened by the Independence Day holiday on Friday, which means closely watched U.S. jobs data for June will be released on Thursday. Economists are looking for the addition of 215,000 nonfarm-payrolls jobs and no change in the unemployment rate of 6.3%. Monday’s session will mark the end of trading for June as well as for the second quarter. After a run to record closes, the S&P 500 Index SPX +0.19% is poised for a quarterly gain of 4.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.03% was looking at an increase of 2.4%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP +0.43% was also set for a quarterly gain of 4.7%. For the first half of 2014, the S&P 500 was on track for a 6.1% increase, with the Dow industrials up 1.7%, and the Nasdaq up 5.3%. Airline, pharmaceutical, and utilities stocks led advancers during the period, which was marked by the impact of bad weather, a drop in first-quarter gross domestic product and a decline in Treasury yields. Also read: Market exuberance out of touch with economy In other markets, Asian shares ended mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei Average JP:NIK +0.45% posting a 0.4% gain. European stocks XX:SXXP -0.07% were slightly lower after a reading of steady inflation in the euro zone. The ICE dollar index DXY -0.03% , which pits the greenback against six other currencies, fell to 79.978 from 80.331 late Friday. Oil futures CLQ4 -0.27% were off 53 cents at $105.21 a barrel, and gold futures GCQ4 -0.33% declined $5.80 to $1,314.20 an ounce.

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