RPT-Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks to track bank earnings, data

(Repeats column initially released late on Friday)

By Ellis Mnyandu

NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) - With Wall Street's rally stalled, this week could be crunch time as big banks' earnings, including Citigroup's (C.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), roll in and investors scrutinize reams of economic data for clues on the recovery.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), Intel Corp (INTC.O: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), and General Electric (GE.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) are among several Dow components due to post their quarterly scorecards.

The economic calendar also has plenty of indicators for investors to chew on, including June retail sales, the Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index, industrial production, weekly jobless claims and housing starts.

Any negative surprise will add fuel to what is shaping up to be the market's first significant pullback since the Standard & Poor's 500 shot up from a 12-year low in March.

"It looks to me like the market might be vulnerable to a correction," said Richard Sparks, senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.

"Earnings are probably the key factor" this week, Sparks added. "People are going to be looking to see if there's any mention of a turnaround in earnings."

Last week, U.S. stock investors showed high anxiety about the start of the latest earnings season. The market drifted lower and broke through key technical support despite Alcoa Inc (AA.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) kicking off the reporting season on Wednesday with a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.

The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX had rallied as much as 40 percent from the 12-year closing low of March 9. But it met some headwinds in May and June that stalled the sharp run-up.

The S&P 500 has lost more than 7 percent from its recovery peak in early June. That puts it on the cusp of a long-awaited correction, defined as a drop of at least 10 percent from a recent high.

Last week, all three major U.S. stock indexes fell: The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI slipped 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 .SPX dropped 1.9 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 2.3 percent.

BANKS, COMPUTERS AND HARLEYS

The earnings spotlight will fall mostly on banks this week since their rebound kicked off the spring rally following news of a surprisingly strong start to 2009 and reassuring results from the government's stress tests.

In the banking sector, investors will first hear from Goldman Sachs (GS.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) on Tuesday, followed by JPMorgan (JPM.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) on Thursday, and then Bank of America (BAC.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) and Citigroup (C.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) on Friday.

Another marquee name on Friday's earnings roster is GE, whose businesses include manufacturing, finance and the media/entertainment sector.

Among tech bellwethers, chipmaker Intel is set to report earnings on Tuesday, followed on Thursday by Web search company Google Inc (GOOG.O: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) and technology services giant International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート). For a full earnings diary, see [RESF/US]

Dow component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート), the huge healthcare and consumer products company whose products include Band-Aids, baby shampoo and Tylenol, will report quarterly results on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Harley-Davidson's (HOG.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート) results are scheduled for release. The motorcycle maker, whose Harleys or "Hogs" are popular with affluent baby boomers, is among companies whose earnings and outlooks serve as a barometer of consumer spending. Harley-Davidson's earnings will come two days after the scheduled release of U.S. government data on June retail sales.

"People want to see good earnings and the next stage of improvement in the economic data," said Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at BTIG LLC, an institutional brokerage in New York.

"People are intent on waiting on the sidelines until they have a reason to start buying again -- or until the data turns bad and (they) start selling again. We are in a holding pattern, from a catalyst or economic data standpoint."

RETAIL SALES, CPI AND HOUSING STARTS

With economic recovery on everyone's mind, the latest monthly retail sales data on Tuesday from the Commerce Department will have the potential to color investors' mood.

June retail sales are forecast to rise 0.4 percent, versus May's increase of 0.5 percent, according to economists polled by Reuters. Excluding autos, June retail sales are forecast to gain 0.5 percent, matching May's increase. The retail sales report is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).

The specter of inflation has hung over Wall Street lately due to concerns that an economic recovery may stoke pricing pressures.

So the Producer Price Index, also due on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., will be an attention grabber. Overall PPI is forecast up 0.9 percent in June, the Reuters poll showed, after May's gain of just 0.2 percent. Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is expected to inch up just 0.1 percent in June, following May's dip of 0.1 percent.

On Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index for June is set for release at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with the forecast calling for a gain of 0.6 percent, according to the Reuters poll, after May's increase of 0.1 percent. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is pegged to rise 0.1 percent in June, matching May's increase.

At 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT) on Wednesday, June industrial production and capacity utilization data are expected from the Federal Reserve. In the afternoon, around 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, the Fed will release the minutes from the Federal Open Markets Committee's two-day policy-setting meeting in late June. Investors will look for insights into how the Fed arrived at its recent assessment of the economic outlook.

Thursday will bring the latest weekly data on initial claims for jobless benefits. On Friday at 8:30 a.m. EDT, June housing starts are expected, with the Reuters poll calling for a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 530,000 units, nearly steady with May's pace of 532,000 units. (Wall St Week Ahead runs weekly. Questions or comments on this one can be e-mailed to: ellis.mnyandu(at)thomsonreuters.com) (Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Additional reporting by Rachel Chang; Editing by Jan Paschal)