Coming Week: Data Overdrive

On average, analysts are expecting a reading of 51, which would be down a bit from 52.3 in February. Still, even if predictions prove correct, any number above 50 means the sector is expanding. A reading below that mark signals a contraction.

Also on the manufacturing front, automakers, including Detroit's Big Three of GM (GM Quote), Ford (F Quote) and DaimlerChrysler (DCX Quote), will be out with their monthly sales results. Foreign carbuilders who are making further inroads in the U.S., namely Toyota (TM Quote), will weigh in, as well.

Two days after its factory report, the ISM will offer up its nonmanufacturing index, a look at the strength of the service sector. That index probably edged ahead to 54.7 last month from 54.3, economists believe. The service index will be joined by factory orders for February, which are forecast to have risen 2%.

But the headline event will still be to come at the end of the week. A day after the Labor Department puts out its weekly initial jobless claims on Thursday, it's scheduled to disclose one of the most eagerly anticipated data points every month -- the jobs report.

Importantly, however, the market is closed that day in observance of Good Friday, which would give traders the weekend to digest the numbers before they act on them.