Investing.com - Stocks in China were mixed. In Shanghai, internet technology and cement firms led the Shanghai Composite Index up 0.49% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.65%.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, slightly beating expectations by analysts of 6.7% growth for the calendar year, but in line with estimates from the head of China's state planning agency.
The figures likely signaled that China's economic growth is starting to stabilize as it transitions from heavy manufacture to domestic-led consumption.
For the quarter-on-quarter GDP figure the increase of 1.7% as expected. Industrial production gained 6.0%, a tick below the 6.1% rise seen, while retail sales jumped 10.9%, beating the 10.7% increase expected.
The S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.56% with biopharma CSL bucking the trend to extend its rally to trade up 2.97 % on a full-year profit forecast to 18-20 percent growth from 11 percent earlier announced in August. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.28% as shares of Panasonic rose 0.8% after it announced an extension of its partnership with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) beyond batteries and into autonomous driving technology.
Earlier, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said that running a "hot" economy for an extended period would be a risk.
"I think that allowing the economy to run markedly and persistently "hot" would be risky and unwise," Yellen said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
While there are no signs as yet that the Fed is behind the curve or the economy is in danger of a sudden surge in inflation, she said, "I consider it prudent to adjust the stance of monetary policy gradually over time."
Overnight, the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi acknowledged that the growth outlook for the euro area has improved, but reiterated that quantitative easing can be increased if the outlook becomes less favorable.
In the U.S., the Department of Labor said initial jobless claims in the week ending January 14 fell by 15,000 to 234,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 254,000 last week.
In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department said housing starts increased by 11.3% to 1.226 million units last month, beating expectations for a rise to 1.200 million units.
However, building permits unexpectedly decreased by 0.2% to 1.210 million units in December. A separate report showed that the Philly Fed manufacturing index rose to 23.6 last month from 21.5 in November, compared to expectations for a rise to 15.8.