Business Lookahead: Cruel summer

STORY: From a check-in on the U.S. economy, to key data from Japan, these are the stories to watch in business and finance in the coming week.

:: Lookahead

:: No 'quiet' summer

The coming days are likely to be tinged with investor nervousness after the major meltdown that saw Japan's second-biggest stock crash and the largest ever intraday jump in Wall Street's most-watched gauge of investor anxiety, the VIX.

And with concerns about a broader Middle East conflict and a U.S. election looming, volatility is unlikely to disappear soon.

:: Wobbling growth?

U.S. consumer price data is out on Wednesday, giving insight into how the world's largest economy is faring amid recent signs that growth is wobbling.

Market hopes of an economic soft landing have been shaken by recent weak data.

A number that shows only modest cooling could allay fears that the Fed left rates high for too long.

A weak report could bolster recession worries.

:: Disenchantment

Japan's preliminary second-quarter growth figures are due on Thursday.

It comes as some analysts have critiqued the Bank of Japan's recent rate hike as a policy misstep that triggered a brutal stock selloff, though the connection isn't quite so straightforward.

So should Thursday's data point to a brighter outlook, Japanese policymakers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. A downside miss and they'd have to find more reasons to justify July's hike.

:: Delicate balance

The Bank of England will have a new set of data points to go through that might help determine what the coming few months will look like for monetary policy.

Consumer inflation, including for the still-hot services sector, as well as second-quarter GDP and retail sales, are all in the mix.