Markets last week traded in quiet anticipation of news from the Fed's annual meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, including the hotly anticipated speech from Dr Yellen, which disappointed interest rate hawks on Friday night.

While leaving the option to raise interest rates as early as September open, depending on employment data due on Friday, Dr Yellen also pointed to stimulus tools available should conditions deteriorate, leaving the impression that monetary policy was likely to remain accommodative in the long term.

Fed fund futures moved, albeit not dramatically, from pricing around a 32 per cent chance of a hike in September to 42 per cent. Asian region markets will have a chance to respond to the commentary, in the wake of the US dollar which surged higher, sending the Australian dollar tumbling 1.5 per cent from a high of US76.8¢ to as low as US75.6¢.

The Australian dollar clawed back some ground, sitting at US76¢ flat at the weekend, while sharemarket futures point to a slightly weaker open on Monday morning.

"While the move towards another Fed rate hike will likely cause bouts of consternation in investment markets I don't see the same degree of uncertainty that we saw around last year's Fed rate hike," AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said.

"It's clear from the Fed's actions this year that it is aware of global risks, the impact of its own actions on those risks and any potential blowback to the US economy and of the impact of a rising US dollar in doing some of its work for it and so acting as a limitation on how much it can hike."

While investors will be awaiting Friday's non-farm payrolls for the US for a strengthening case for a rate rise at the Fed's meeting on September 26-27, as well as commentary from four Fed speakers throughout the week, there is plenty of action to keep local traders occupied.

Building approvals data is due on Tuesday, followed by retail sales for July and June-quarter business investment data due on Thursday.

"Industry reports, including those from the current reporting season have been mixed [regarding retail sales]," National Australia Bank senior economist David de Garis said.

"One major market chain had a strike affecting distribution in Melbourne from mid-July, possibly hampering sales through its outlets. Still quite difficult trading conditions were also reported by department stores in July with David Jones having July as an additional clearance month."

Consensus forecasts expect growth to sit at 0.3 per cent month on month, a slight improvement on June's disappointing 0.1 per cent figure.

As for second-quarter capex, consensus estimates from Bloomberg expect a contraction of 4.1 per cent for the quarter, following a trend of declines on the previous quarter's 5.2 per cent fall. The release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics also includes expectations for the 2017 financial year. Mr de Garis said "some normal seasonal upgrade on early tentative estimates is usually evident, and NAB expects some upward revision on this basis from $89.2 billion to $97.6 billion for spending".

Other data points to watch include the purchasing managers' indices manufacturing gauges from China, the eurozone, Britain and the US all on Thursday.

This week also marks the tail end of company reporting season, with only a few major companies left to report, including Harvey Norman, Ramsay Health Care and Adelaide Brighton.