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A big week for economic data kicks off with retail sales and building approvals figures.

NAB economist Taylor Nugent expects building approvals - and home loan approval figures due later in the week - to fall in line with slowing housing demand amid rising interest rates.

Consumer confidence will also be released. In the last two surveys, sentiment has been relatively upbeat despite rising interest rates and soaring inflation.

Wednesday will see ABS data detailing the value of construction work.

Mr Nugent anticipates a 0.5 per cent quarterly drop due to bad weather disrupting work as well as ongoing capacity constraints.

The Reserve Bank will also issue a report into outstanding loans mid-week.

Later in the week, both CoreLogic and competitor PropTrack will release their home price reports.

The ABS will also drop actual and projected investment spending data sets, as well as lending data.

CommSec economist Craig James said July lending data - which includes home, personal, business and lease loans - would provide some clues about the impact of recent rate hikes.

The jobs and skills summit will start in Canberra on Thursday, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Grattan Institute head Danielle Wood and renowned economist Ross Garnaut the keynote speakers.

The head of the US Federal Reserve on Friday dashed hopes on Wall Street that it may soon ease up on high interest rates in its effort to tame inflation.

The S&P 500 fell 141.46 points to 4,057.66. The benchmark index is now down almost 15 per cent for the year.

The Dow lost 1,008.38 points to close at 32,283.40. The last time the blue-chip average had a 1,000-point drop was in May.

The Nasdaq slid 497.56 points to 12,141.71, its biggest drop since June.

The local share market meanwhile finished higher for a third straight day.

The ASX/S&P200 index finished up 56 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 7104.1, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 53.9 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 7345.8.

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Jess Fox, Australia's all-time great paddler, has been left exhausted after notching up another sporting landmark, winning a remarkable fourth consecutive World Cup kayak slalom race in Pau.

The Olympic C1 champ was in a class of her own on Saturday at one of her favourite French venues, adding yet another global title to the three she won across Europe in June in Prague, Krakow and Tacen.

After her 39th individual World Cup race win, the Penrith star looks sure to be crowned overall World Cup K1 champion again for the fourth consecutive time after the finals in La Seu, Spain next weekend.

"It's so special to take another win today and my fourth gold of the series. I couldn't have hoped to have a better end to the kayak," said the 28-year-old, who will be trying to add titles in the canoe and extreme events on Sunday.

Fox dominated Saturday morning's race, despite a run that featured a couple of penalty points when she had a touch on gate five.

Yet she was so much faster than her opponents over the rapids - 1.80 seconds quicker than the next swiftest - that she wouldn't be denied.

"I was definitely nervous for this final. I knew I had no room for error after I'd made the mistake and I tried to just push to the finish," she said.

"It's such a physical course that I was absolutely exhausted at the finish line.

"I really like paddling in Pau. I've been coming here for many years. It feels a bit like home."

Poland's Natalia Pacierpnik had set the pace with a flawless clear run but she could only watch helpless as Fox repeated her 2021 Pau triumph, ultimately finishing 1.80 ahead. Czech Tereza Fiserova was third.

Fox was back to the top of the podium after winning two silvers in the C1 and K1 at the world championships in Augsburg last month, when she also took the extreme title for which she'll be favourite when the event makes its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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South Sydney are bound for September after wrapping up a top-eight spot in a dramatic 20-10 win over North Queensland, with Coen Hess sin-binned late following a head clash with Campbell Graham.

After a dour opening 65 minutes, the match burst into life in the dying stages on Saturday when the Cowboys mounted a late comeback.

The result leaves North Queensland's hopes of a home final in disarray, dropping down to third with a week to play and all but certain to have to travel for week one of the finals.

The Cowboys could also face time without Hess if he is charged over the head clash with Graham.

Down 14-6 for the majority of the second half, the Cowboys only got back in the match via a tremendous solo try from Kyle Feldt.

They then threatened to take the lead when Taane Milne spilled a Chad Townsend bomb, only for the Rabbitohs winger to recover with an intercept in the next set.

On the next play, Hess rushed out of the line and clashed heads with Graham, in scenes reminiscent of the Dale Finucane incident against Penrith last month.

Finucane had warned at the time that his three-match ban set a dangerous precedent, but Cowboys coach Todd Payten claimed on Saturday night the hits were not comparable.

"Campbell Graham didn't come off for a HIA, so I'm not sure if he got hit in the head or not," Payten said.

"That's the part I am confused about.

"You can't compare that to Dale Finucane's ... There is a question whether Hessy hit his head or not. So poles apart in my opinion."

Feldt also found himself in the sin-bin for a professional foul, stifling any chance of a Cowboys recovery and allowing for a late Tom Burgess try.

It leaves Canberra and Brisbane fighting it out for the final spot in the eight, with Souths now safe in seventh.

The result also means Friday night's Allianz Stadium opener between the Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters has little riding on it, other than determining a Sydney venue for their elimination final appointments.

But the Rabbitohs will know they must be better after losing Damien Cook for their final two games to COVID-19.

Jason Demetriou's men were far from pretty in attack and played too much sideways early while Latrell Mitchell also had one of his quietest games since his return from a hamstring injury.

Keaon Koloamatangi straightened the Rabbitohs up for their first try, before Cameron Murray went to the line and helped Mitchell put Alex Johnston over for a four-pointer in an eighth straight match just before the break.

It helped set up a 14-6 lead, that remained until the late madness.

"It was an anxious week. We knew what was at stake," Demetriou said.

"Getting there (to the finals) is the hardest part off the back of the start we had."

The implications for North Queensland are also significant.

Second on the ladder since round 18, they have now dropped to third and are behind Cronulla with a week to play.

They'll most likely stay there, unless they beat Penrith on Friday and the Sharks are shocked by lowly-ranked Newcastle next Sunday.

That in itself will come as a hammer blow to the Cowboys, who had been hoping to finish second and staying in Townsville until the grand final.

Now, they'll almost certainly have to come to Sydney in the first week of the finals, before returning home for one finals match rather than two.

© AAP 2022