Next Week Economic News

Monday: The March index of leading economic indicators (LEI) is due after the start of trading Monday. LEI is expected to have risen 1% after rising 0.1% in the previous month, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke are both due to speak Monday.

Tuesday: There are no economic reports scheduled for Tuesday.

Wednesday: The government's weekly crude oil inventories report is due in the morning.

Thursday: The Department of Labor is expected to report that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 455,000 last week from 484,000 in the previous week. Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, is expected to have fallen to 4,600,000 from 4,639,000 in the previous week.

The National Association of Realtors is expected to report that existing home sales rose to a 5.3 million unit annualized rate from a 5.02 million unit rate in February, according to economists' forecasts.

The FHFA Home Price index for February is expected to have fallen 0.2% after falling 0.6% in January.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for March is expected to have risen 0.5% after falling 0.6% in February. The so-called core PPI is expected to have risen 0.1% after rising 0.1% in February.

Friday: March durable goods orders are due before the open from the Commerce Department. Orders are expected to have risen 0.2% after rising 0.9% in February. Goods excluding autos are expected to have risen 0.6% after rising 1.4% in February.

The government's new home sales report is due out after the start of trading. Sales are expected to have risen to a 325,000 unit annual rate in March from a 308,000 unit annualized rate in February. February's level was the lowest on record since the government began keeping tallies in 1963 and the fourth straight month of declines.

Federal Reserve Governor Donald Kohn is due to speak Friday.