Markets are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and a half day for equities occurs on Friday, so most of the week's meager trading will be done by mid-Wednesday across all asset classes. Stocks should continue to drift higher, while the bond market remains in a range suggesting a reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus soon, and the same goes for the dollar. That said, it will be hard to interpret next week's activity as anything more than low-volume distortion.

A sharp increase in interest rates has slowed America's housing market but economic reports this week are likely to show the economy remains strong enough to power further home building and price appreciation. Data on Monday is expected to show pending sales rose in October, and a report on Tuesday is seen showing an increase in groundbreaking on new homes that month and an increase in prices in September. New orders of long-lasting factory goods made in America likely increased in October when stripping out volatile transportation equipment, while a final print of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for November is expected to improve as well.

The holiday week is a critical one for the retail industry, where the "Black Friday" phenomenon has expanded as top stores and online sellers try to get shoppers to crack open their wallets sooner to make up for a shorter shopping season. Amazon.com has already started marking prices down and most major brick-and-mortar retailers including Macy's flagship store will be open Thanksgiving Day.

As early as Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court could announce that it will decide whether a provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires employers to provide health insurance that covers birth control violates the religious rights of employers. Both the Obama administration and various companies have asked the court to decide the issue, which has split federal appeals courts.

Canadian data out on Friday is expected to show the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.3 percent in the third quarter, up from 1.7 percent in the second quarter and ahead of the central bank's 1.8 percent forecast issued last month. Even so, a drop in Canada's inflation rate below the central bank's 1 to 3 percent target range has cemented expectations that Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz will keep interest rates on hold for at least another year.

Barnes & Noble, the top U.S. bookstore chain, reports second-quarter results on Tuesday. Wall Street will parse the numbers to see how much of a benefit to the bottom line the company is getting since it decided this year to scale back its Nook tablet business. Companies also reporting on the same day include Tiffany, Cracker Barrel, JA Solar and LDK Solar. Hewlett-Packard reports its financial results on Wednesday.

MONDAY, NOV. 25

The U.S. bankruptcy court overseeing American Airlines Chapter 11 case holds a hearing in New York to consider the settlement reached with the Department of Justice that clears the way for the merger with US Airways. American and US Air agreed to shed slots at Washington Reagan, New York LaGuardia and other airports in exchange for Justice dropping its suit challenging the deal. The merger, expected to be completed in December, would be the mechanism by which American emerges from bankruptcy protection.

Workday, the provider of Web-based human resources software, is expected to post strong quarterly results, according to StarMine, as revenue from subscriptions is expected to increase. The company went public last October. The stock has risen more than 35 percent since January. Looking for comments on when the company could see its first profit. Workday competes with larger rivals such as Salesforce and Oracle.