This week will see new data on inflation, housing and retail sales, after markets were more volatile this week due to concerns about the health of the economy. Several Federal Reserve speakers will also make remarks later in the week and may provide further insights.

Investors could also get more news on consumer spending trends when major retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) release their earnings results.

Monday, August 12

• New York Fed consumer inflation expectations (July)

Tuesday, August 13

• NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (July)
• Producer Price Index (July)
• Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic delivers a speech
• Home Depot (HD) and SunLife Financial (SLF) Report result

Wednesday, August 14

• Consumer Price Index (July)
• Cisco Systems (CSCO) and UBS AG (UBS) Report result

Thursday, August 15

• Initial applications for unemployment benefits (week ending August 10)
• Empire State Manufacturing Index (August)
• Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (August)
• Real estate market index (August)
• Industrial production and capacity utilization (July)
• Retail sales (July)
• Company inventories (June)
• President of the St. Louis Fed, Alberto Musalem and Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker Make comments
• Walmart (WMT)Alibaba Group (BABA)Applied Materials (AMAT)John Deere (EN) and JD.Com (JD) Report result

Friday, August 16

• Construction starts (July)
• Consumer sentiment – preliminary (August)
• Speech by Austan Goolsbee, President of the Chicago Fed

New data on inflation, housing construction and retail sales

Tuesday’s Producer Price Index (PPI) will provide an update on wholesale inflation, while the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July on Wednesday will show whether consumer inflation will continue its downward trend after falling to an annual rate of 3% in the previous month.

The latest inflation data could influence the Fed’s stance on interest rates. While easing price pressures could increase expectations for a rate cut, a higher reading would raise concerns that rates will remain high.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will deliver speeches this week in which they may provide further insights.

Market watchers will also receive sentiment surveys from builders on Wednesday and consumers on Friday. Thursday’s retail sales will follow a surprisingly strong July report that showed consumers were still willing to spend, and Friday’s housing starts data will show whether builders are able to build on the June surge in construction activity, potentially easing a housing market that is struggling to build up inventory.

Investors will likely be watching to see whether weekly initial jobless claims data released on Thursday will continue to show stability in the labor market after last week’s report helped ease economic concerns.

Retailers announce earnings results, including Walmart

In addition to the retail sales data, Thursday will also see a quarterly update from Walmart, the country’s largest retailer. The major retail chain surprised analysts with 6% year-over-year sales growth in the first quarter and raised its full-year forecast.

Meanwhile, Home Depot’s sales and profits are expected to decline slightly from the same period last year as inflation-concerned consumers spend less money on expensive home improvement projects.

Investors could also get a glimpse into international retail trends this week, with reports from Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com.

Cisco’s earnings on Tuesday could include spending on technology infrastructure, and financial firms SunLife Financial and UBS are also expected to report.