Wall St Week Ahead: Retail sales, PPI and CPI may trip stocks

By Cal Mankowski

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Any new signs that the U.S. economy continues to decelerate could make it hard for stocks to regain their footing after a bruising week that saw market indexes down sharply, and left consumer confidence at a two-year low.

Monthly data from the Commerce Department, due on Wednesday, is expected to show retail sales rose 0.2 percent in October, according to the consensus forecast of economists polled by Reuters.

That would represent a slower pace from the 0.6 percent increase in September, which was bolstered by gasoline sales.

"We've had a series of weak numbers, so the retail sales could impact the markets quite a bit," said Brian Stine, senior portfolio manager with Allegiant Asset Management in Cleveland.

Wednesday also brings the U.S. Producer Price Index for October from the Labor Department. The consensus forecast is for an increase of 0.3 percent in overall PPI and a 0.2 percent gain in core PPI, which factors out volatile food and energy prices.

A month earlier, overall PPI rose 1.1 percent, while core PPI added just 0.1 percent.

On Thursday, the Labor Department releases October data on consumer prices. The overall Consumer Price Index is expected to rise 0.3 percent, while core CPI is forecast to gain 0.2 percent.

Both the producer and consumer price indexes will be studied for clues as to whether core inflation is tame enough to let the Federal Reserve cut interest rates once more at its December meeting.