Economists expecting 'market-moving' week

LAST week, major US stock indices lost a little ground, but they could easily set new record highs this week as long as economic data is neither too hot nor too cold.

After a slow start to the summer, this promises to be a "market-moving week", said economists at brokerage Nomura Securities, in a research note. The June jobs report on Thursday will cap a four-day week into which it feels like "four weeks" worth of data has been compressed. Other key reports include pending home sales, the Institute for Supply Management's surveys of both the services and manufacturing sectors and sales reports from major US car manufacturers.

Strategists say that the data has taken on a new urgency now that the extent of the first-quarter slowdown has become clear. Last week, the Commerce Department reported that the economy contracted by 2.9 per cent - a quarterly production rate that would be considered bad, even in a recession.