Looking Ahead: Week of April 8 to April 12
Market News International surveys between 15 and 20 Wall Street economists each week for their forecasts of economic indicators.

Monday
The consensus forecast shows that business inventories are expected to post a 0.3 percent drop in February. We already known from published reports that wholesale trade and manufacturers' inventories posted substantial declines for the month. The only missing component is retail trade. (Forecast range: -0.5 to 0.4 percent)

Tuesday
The consumer price index is expected to jump 0.5 percent in March after recording a more modest 0.2 percent gain in February. This is primarily due to the spurt in energy prices. (Forecast range: 0.4 to 0.6 percent) Excluding food and energy, the CPI is predicted to increase 0.2 percent for the month. The core CPI rose 0.3 percent in February. (Forecast range: 0.1 to 0.4 percent)

Economists are predicting a slight decrease in March housing starts to a 1.70 million-unit rate from a 1.769 million-unit rate in February. Even with a drop, the level of housing starts remains rather strong. Mortgage rates picked up a bit, but often this signals to consumers that they better get in the housing market before rates rise further. (Forecast range: 1.60 to 1.75 million-unit rate)

Market players are looking for a 0.6 percent hike in the index of industrial production for March. This would be the largest monthly rise since May 2000 and the third straight gain in this recovery. (Forecast range: 0.4 to 0.9 percent) The capacity utilization rate should rise to 75.2 percent in March from a level of 74.8 percent in February. (Forecast range: 74.9 to 75.4 percent)

Wednesday
The consensus forecast shows that the international trade deficit on goods and services is expected to widen in February to $29.5 billion from a shortfall of $28.5 billion in January. Exports are predicted to rise, but less rapidly than imports. (Forecast range: $ -30.0 to $ -28.5 billion)

Thursday
Economists are predicting that new jobless claims will drop 28,000 to 410,000 in the week ended April 13 from last week's level of 438,000. This does not reflect a resurgence of layoffs, but rather re-filings due to workers who are eligible for an extension of benefits since they haven't found jobs after the initial 13-week program. (Forecast range: -58,000 to -13,000)

The index of leading indicators is expected to rise 0.3 percent in March after remaining unchanged in February. Rising stock prices and increases in consumer confidence helped boost the index for the month. (Forecast range: 0.2 to 0.4 percent)

Economists predict that the Philadelphia Fed's business outlook survey will post a gain in April to 13.5 from a level of 11.4 in March. As long as this index remains above the zero mark, then it signals an expanding manufacturing sector in this district. Moreover, it is a pretty good predictor of the index of industrial production. (Forecast range: 10.0 to 20.0)

The federal Treasury budget is likely to record a deficit of $60 billion for the month of March. A drop is in line with historical patterns. Over the past couple of years, declines averaged about $40 billion, though, less than the projected decline for this fiscal year.