Wall Street to eye inflation, jobs data

Investors better have rested up over the long weekend. This week may be short, but it's heavy on data that spans employment, housing, manufacturing, consumer sentiment and inflation.

The upcoming flood of reports will help decide whether inflation and the economy are rising at paces that investors are comfortable with, and if not, whether the ongoing surge in corporate takeover deals will be enough to keep lifting stocks to new records.

If either inflation or growth is clocking in too fast, the Federal Reserve may refrain from lowering interest rates this year, or even hike them further, which would dampen spending and potentially hurt the stock market. On the other hand, data showing an abrupt halt in growth could also give investors pause.

Mixed housing data caused Wall Street to retreat last Thursday, contributing to the Dow Jones industrial average's drop of 0.36 last week; the Standard & Poor's 500 index's 0.46 percent loss; and the Nasdaq composite index's 0.05 percent decline.