Wall Street Will Focus on CPI Report

January’s consumer price index, set for release Wednesday, will grab Wall Street’s attention this week. The CPI report will have the spotlight almost all to itself during a week that’s light on notable numbers, compared with last week’s glut of economic data. The CPI, the gauge of inflation at the retail or consumer level, will receive more than its usual close scrutiny after its wholesale counterpart, the producer price index for January, released last Friday, showed its biggest one-month gain in more than a decade. The Labor Department’s CPI report also might suggest that higher prices for natural gas, which is used to heat homes and power electricity-generating plants, are affecting other costs. “Whoever uses it is going to try to pass it on to you and me,” said Robert Dederick, an economic consultant at Northern Trust Corp. in Chicago.

Other economic reports due this week:

* Wednesday, the Commerce Department will report on December’s trade deficit in goods and services, which is expected to have narrowed as import demand cooled.

* Thursday, the Conference Board will release its January index of leading economic indicators, a gauge of the economy’s future potential.