With little in the way of economic data out this week in Canada, at least, the federal election will dominate the news. In the U.S., however, the closing of U.S. markets last Friday for the funeral of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan will make for a busy week as data originally scheduled for release last week will will be published this week.

This week’s Canadian highlights include April motor vehicle sales due out on Monday, followed by manufacturing shipments out on Tuesday and international securities transactions on Thursday.

“Investors are already asking us what a Conservative government might mean for equities whose values could be affected by policies on bank mergers, aerospace subsidies, broadcast regulations, environmental regulations, tax policy, and so on,” Avery Shenfeld, senior economist with CIBC World Markets, said in a report. “But there will be much doubt on any of these files if, as most polls still show, the outcome is a minority government.

“Don’t expect any impact of the election on monetary policy, however, with the Bank of Canada’s inflation-targeting regime going to survive any foreseeable election outcome.”

In the U.S., international trade data for April will be announced on Monday, alongside May retail sales numbers. The preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey will be moved to Tuesday, adding to an already-long list of releases including May consumer prices, April business inventories, June Empire State PMI, and updates on weekly retail sales and the consumer sentiment index. May producer prices, also originally scheduled for Friday, will be released sometime next week, though no firm dates are set.

Other notable releases for the week ahead include May housing starts and industrial production on Wednesday, followed by the leading indicator for May and the Philadelphia Fed index for June on Thursday. The week closes with first-quarter current account balances due out on Friday.

Shenfeld notes that the data-heavy week won’t be too friendly for the bond market, with CPI inflation likely to hit its high for the year on a 12-month basis at 2.9%, and May’s retail boom reminding markets of the brisk pace to growth.

“The key figure for the week will be core CPI, where we expect an on-trend 0.2% rise. Markets are going to have a hair-trigger response to any divergence on either side of that consensus, given [Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan] Greenspan’s warning that the Fed isn’t wedded to its gradualist approach if inflation heats up. In our view, the Fed’s current call for a measured pace will prove on the mark, with core inflation likely to level off near 2%.”