Housing Starts, Walmart, Home Depot: 3 Things to Watch

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- Stocks headed higher, continuing last-week's rally despite weaker economic data from China that could threaten global growth.

Most investors are focused on this week's retail earnings from big companies including Walmart and Target (NYSE:TGT), which serve as a proxy for the health of the American consumer. The reports come after an unexpectedly strong job report for July and unexpectedly positive inflation news. The Federal Reserve is likely to be watching the trends closely as it decides on the next step with interest rates.

The minutes of the Fed's July meeting will be released on Wednesday, providing investors with another window into how policymakers are thinking about the economy given the data they are seeing. Some investors believe the recent trends could lead the Fed to get less aggressive with rate increases as it aims for a "soft landing," which means cooling the economy without large job losses.

This week also brings a slate of data on housing trends, another market that is cooling amid high prices and rising interest rates.

Walmart's earnings report comes out early Tuesday. Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow.

1. Housing starts

The July housing starts data comes out at 8:30 ET (12:30 GMT). Analysts expect a reading of 1.54 million.

2. Walmart earnings

Analysts expect Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), the biggest U.S. retailer, to report earnings per share of $1.63 on revenue of $150.9 billion.

3. Home Depot earnings

Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) is expected to report EPS of $4.94 on revenue of $43.4 billion.