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Canadian retail sales followed by the U.S. Department of Energy's weekly oil inventories will hold the focus of Wednesday's news releases on what is shaping up to be a mild day of economic news for North America. At midday, markets will also be paying attention to the Bank of Canada selling C$3.6 billion in two-year notes.

Trade data will the highlight of the day for both the U.S. and Canadian economies. The U.S. trade balance will be the subject of scrutiny as the deficit is expected to continue to mushroom despite growing exports. The Canadian trade balance for June is also forecast to rise in the face of a slowing economy.

Retail sales advanced by their biggest margin so far this year, advancing 2.9% on a year-over-year basis in the week ending Aug. 2, according to a weekly survey from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and UBS Securities. Similarly, the Johnson Redbook retail survey recorded a 3.5% gain in the week compared to last year.

Today's key economic release will be the ISM manufacturing index for June where economists expect a drop to 48.5 from May's 49.6 reading. Canadian markets will be closed to observe Canada Day.

At 7:45 a.m. EDT, ICSC will release its retail sales figures for the week ending June 28. In the previous week, sales advanced by 2.2% year-over-year.

At 10 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Commerce Department will release construction spending for May. Economists expected a decline of 0.6% month-over-month following April's 0.4% contraction...