Economic look ahead: Housing, consumer data due

A holiday-shortened week will deliver a batch of data on housing, consumer confidence and business investment that's likely to reflect mixed results as the economy transitions from a rough winter to stronger growth in the second half of the year.

Home price gains have picked up recently after slowing last year, with annual increases accelerating three straight months amid tight housing supplies. Economists reckon the market paused in March, with the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller's 20 city index, out Tuesday, rising 4.6% in March year-over-year, down from 5% in February.

Consumer confidence plunged last month after the government reported puny job growth in March. The labor market rebounded in April, but the economy struggled in the first quarter, and Americans don't expect a quick turnaround based on the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment reading for May. As a result, economists expect a further modest decline in the Conference Board's consumer confidence index, to 94 from 95.2. The measure hit an eight-year high of 103.8 in January.

Business investment has been on a steady decline since last summer amid low oil prices, which are hampering drilling activity, and a strong dollar, which is pummeling U.S. exports. Economists expect just a modest rebound in April, with the Commerce Department projected to report that orders for durable goods, excluding aircraft and defense, rose 0.4%. Lewis Alexander, chief U.S. economist of Nomura, is looking for a gradual pickup in coming months as both the dollar and oil prices stabilize.

A Commerce report on new home sales should bring better news. Sales of newly built homes cratered in March in the aftermath of the nasty winter. But a healthy rise in mortgage applications recently portends a solid bounce-back in April, UBS says. Economists estimate sales jumped 4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 500,000.

Friday, though, is likely to deliver another downer with Commerce's expected revision to first-quarter economic growth. It initially reported the nation's gross domestic product grew just 0.2% in the January-March period. But recent readings on exports and retail sales have been weaker than anticipated. And Alexander estimates that business stockpiling grew more slowly than the government first estimated. Economists expect the revision to show the economy shrank 0.9% in the period, repeating a pattern of weak first-quarter growth.