The flow of Canadian economic data kicks off Tuesday when Statistics Canada releases consumer price index data for December. Economists expect a year-over-year increase of 1.8%, compared with 1.4% the previous month.

Separately, StatsCan reports retail sales for November. Economists expect an increase of 1%, compared with a decline of 0.7% the previous month.

As well, the government agency releases leading indicators data for December. Economists expect a rise of 0.4%, compared with 0.5% the previous month.

On Thursday, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge speaks in Toronto on Monetary Policy and Developments in the Global and Canadian Economies.

South of the border

On Monday, the U.S. Conference Board releases leading indicator figures for December. Economists expect an increase of 0.2%, compared with 0.1% the previous month.

Overseas, the World Economic Forum convenes for five-day annual meeting, Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

On Thursday, he U.S. Department of Labor reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 20. Economists forecast 309,000 initial claims, up from 290,000 a week earlier.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Association of Realtors reports on existing home sales for December. Economists forecast sales fell 0.2% from the previous month to 6.25 million homes.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports on durable goods orders for December. Economists forecast an increase of 3.5%, compared with a revised increase of 1.6% the previous month.

Commerce also reports on new home sales in December. Economists forecast an increase of 0.6% to 1.05 million homes.

Corporate earnings

The flow of quarterly earnings announcements continues unabated this week. Among the companies scheduled to report are: Advanced Micro Devices Inc.; Bank of America Corp. Canadian National Railway Co.; E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.; Johnson & Johnson; Sun Microsystems Inc.; Xerox Corp.; Yahoo Inc.; Abbott Laboratories; ConocoPhillips Co.; AT&T Inc.; Kimberly-Clark Corp.; Dow Chemical Co.; Petro-Canada; PMC-Sierra Inc.; Suncor Energy Inc.; Zarlink Semiconductor Inc.; Caterpillar Inc.; and Honeywell International Inc.