HERE COMES HOUSING STARTS ...

The Census releases housing starts and building permits data for March at 8:30 a.m.

For housing starts, the consensus expectation is for a jump to 7%, or 970,000, from a reading of -0.2% prior, or 907,000.

For building permits, analysts expect a decline of 0.4%, to 101,000 after a 7.7% surge to 101,800 in February.

We're still well below even pre-boom levels: