NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Few analysts rule out a stock market bounce in the days ahead as focus shifts to economic indicators and away from second-quarter earnings reports that came amid a bruising week on Wall Street.
But any gains could be short-lived if the slower profit growth that several companies forecast last week becomes a broad trend.
"The odds that we have more (positive) earnings surprises than disappointments are one in a million and the market is sensing that," said Charles Pradilla, chief market strategist at S.G. Cowen.
The days ahead bring a fresh batch of economic indicators, including Friday's job report for July. But some on Wall Street say data may not matter as much to a market struggling to value stocks amid several high-profile profit disappointments.
Stocks fell last week after a series of earnings warnings made investors wary that corporate profit growth will slow. At least 20 companies readied Wall Street for lower-than-expected results, including Lands' End, Nokia and Xerox. Those stocks, along with the major market indexes, got hammered.
For the week, the Nasdaq composite index tumbled 10.5 percent to 3,663.00. Holding up better, the Dow shed 2.8 percent to 10,511.17 and the S&P 500 lost 4.1 percent to 1,419.89. All the indexes are in the minus column for the year.
Still, overall corporate results for the April through June quarter have been good. Of the 400 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported profits so far, earnings have averaged a 22.6 percent gain over year-ago figures, according to First Call/Thompson Financial.
Jobs ahead
The week's most closely watched economic indicator comes Friday, with the government's jobs report for July. The payrolls figures, the last before the Federal Reserve meets later in August, could influence the central bank's decision on interest rates - a decision many analysts consider too close to call.
Evidence of an unexpectedly tight labor market, while good for Main Street, would make policy makers fret that employers will bid up wages, sparking an outbreak of inflation that could derail an economic expansion now in its record ninth year. But a slowdown in the job market might convince Fed officials that six credit tightenings since June, 1999 are beginning to bite. Stock investors worry that higher rates, by making it more expensive for companies to borrow money, can hurt corporate profits. As rates rise, bond yields climb, driving money out of from stocks and into fixed-income securities.
When it comes to the July jobs report, economists forecast a mixed picture, with unemployment holding steady, payroll growth rising and earnings gaining at a slower rate.
Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com expect the unemployment rate remained at 4 percent. Employers are seen having added 70,000 jobs during the month, up from 11,000 in June. Average hourly earnings, a key gauge of wage inflation, are expected to gain 0.3 percent below the 0.4 percent jump in June.
 A weaker-than-expected report in June sent stocks soaring. Since then, stocks have essentially treaded water. One market forecaster expects more of the same.
Getting technical
As a technical analyst for Chase Securities, Joe Kleinerman, doesn't watch economic or corporate fundamentals. Instead, he studies charts of the major stocks indexes, attempting to divine the future based on past patterns.
"We're in a transition period," said Kleinerman, who forecasts the major indexes rising this week but then faltering for the remainder of the summer.
"I see a three-step bounce into next week but that will be followed by new price lows," he said.
Specifically, he sees the Nasdaq rallying to as much as 4,030 and the Dow hitting 10,800 this week before faltering in the weeks ahead. Still, Kleinerman's outlook for the year-end shows the major indexes finishing 2000 with gains.
The rest of the numbers
In other economic data, June's personal income and spending figures come Tuesday. Income is seen doubling to 0.4 percent from 0.2 percent in May.
Also that day, the National Association of Purchasing Management releases its index of manufacturing activity. Another gain is forecast, to 52.5 percent from 51.8 percent in June, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
 June's leading economic indicators, meanwhile, come Wednesday along with new home sales for the same month. Both gauges are seen slipping amid steeper borrowing costs. The Conference Board's gauge, intended to forecast the economy six months ahead, is expected to fall 0.1 percent after an identical drop in June.
New home sales, meanwhile, are seen falling to an annual level of 875,000 units in June from 868 units the previous month. This report is due out Wednesday.
"The Fed's going be watching economic data very carefully," said Alan Ackerman, senior vice president at Fahnestock & Co. Ackerman says recent data could give the central bank reason to raise interest rates in August. But that outlook could change with the fresh batch of numbers in the days ahead.
In the short-term, Ackerman is cautious on the markets. He advises clients to raise cash in their portfolios. But Ackerman sees stocks strengthening in September, once the Fed's interest-rate decision is out of the way and certainty emerges over how much OPEC will boost oil production
Profit results ebb
Earnings for the April-June quarter taper off this week. Only one Dow Jones industrial average component reports. And no major technology companies post results. Still, a few big names will cross the wires.
Among them, Procter & Gamble's (PG: Research, Estimates) profits are expected to be flat. The maker of Tide, Crest and Pringles is seen earning 55 cents per share for the period, according to First Call, which tracks earnings. P&G, the Dow's worst performing stock year-to-date, has issued two earnings warnings this year.
Viacom Inc (VIA: Research, Estimates), which acquired CBS this year, is expected to lose six cents a share versus a profit of 8 cents in the year-earlier period.
Among other companies expected to see a drop in results, Aetna (AET: Research, Estimates), the insurer, is expected to post profits of 88 cents a share compared to $1.03 in the same period last year.
Web stocks could get some attention this week when Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's hosts its Internet and financial conference Thursday. And a new conference this week focuses on optical stocks, one of the market's best performing sectors. Opticon, held in San Francisco, is run by the Business Communications Review.
S.G. Cowen's Pradilla doesn't rule out a bounce next week. But he's believes a slowdown in earnings growth will weigh on the markets through early 2001.
"I think the problem is we have continued earnings warnings," Pradilla said "We are not out of the woods." 
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