On Monday, the Bank of Canada releases its business outlook survey.

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada posts manufacturing shipments for February. Economists expect a monthly increase of 0.5% is expected.

On Thursday, Statistics Canada reports on the consumer price index for March. Economists forecast a rise of 1.5% from last year; core CPI is expected at 1.4%.

On Friday, StatsCan reports on wholesale trade for February. Economists expect an increase of 0.4% from the previous month.

Separately, StatsCan reports on the leading indicators for March. Economists forecast a rise of 0.1%.

South of the border

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports advance retail sales for March. Economists expect an increase of 0.1%.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Labour reports on the producer price index for March. Economists expect a 0.7% increase from a month earlier.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labour reports on the consumer price index for March. Economists forecast an increase of 0.3% from February and 4% from a year ago.

Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department releases data on housing starts and building permits for March. Economists forecast 1.02 million starts and 970,000 permits, both annualized.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board reports on industrial production in March. Economists expect production to drop 0.1%. The Fed also reports on capacity utilization in March, for which economists are forecasting a rate of 80.3%.

On Thursday, the U.S. Labour Department reports initial jobless claims for the week ended April 12. Economists are forecasting 365,000 claims.

Corporate earnings

Monday brings quarterly results from
Astral Media Inc., OSI Geospatial, and Royal Philips Electronics NV.

On Tuesday, Intel Corp. releases its first-quarter results, as does Johnson & Johnson, and U.S. Bancorp.

On Wednesday, eBay Inc. releases first-quarter results, as does International Business Machines Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Coca-Cola Co., and Wells Fargo & Co. reports.

Continental Airlines and Southwest Airlines release first-quarter results on Thursday.

Other companies scheduled to release Q1 earings include Google Inc., Harley-Davidson Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Nokia Corp., and New York Times Co.

Citigroup Inc. reports first quarter results on Friday, as does Caterpillar Inc., and Xerox Corp.