New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- The stock market took one bad piece of economic news in its stride, but watch out for a potential double whammy of gloom this week. Traders shrugged off a surprising contraction in the labor market, which wasn't too much of a concern, but the real risk is fresh inflation data on Wednesday, and a higher read.

Markets start off this week digesting Friday's payrolls report, which showed the economy lost 23,000 jobs last month. While a single month's data shouldn't cause too much alarm, it raises the stakes for the consumer price index. Equities, and especially technology stocks, could do with a benign reading.

The initial conclusion from the weak jobs data is it should prompt the Federal Reserve to act cautiously. Tra...