Ahead of the Chinese data, how will Nifty behave?

Wall Street ended the week on a mixed note. While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed about half a percent lower, the Dow managed to post its first weekly gain of the year. European markets too broadly ended higher.

On the economic front in the US, housing starts for December fell 9.8 percent to 9,99,000. While applications for building permits fell 3 percent to 9,86,000 in the same month. That was significantly below the projected 1.01 million permits.

Also Read: Weekly wrap: Cooling inflation, World Bank growth upgrade lift Nifty

The US dollar started Monday near a two-month high, having enjoyed a solid comeback last week after a string of mostly upbeat data convinced markets the Federal Reserve will continue its gradual withdrawal of stimulus.

In commodities, US crude fell in early Asian trading on Monday, easing from a two-week high. , Investors were awaiting the Chinese data, which was expected to show a slight slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. However, China's economy grew stronger-than-expected 7.7 percent in the final quarter of 2013 from the year-ago period, according to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics Monday.

Quarter on quarter, the world's second biggest economy grew 1.8 percent, a tad weaker than the consensus predicted 2 percent. This brings full-year growth to 7.7 percent, compared to government's target of 7.5 percent.

Asian markets opened mostly lower on Monday. Shanghai Composite was down 0.18 percent, Nikkei declined 0.77 percent and Straits Times shed 0.48 percent.

Back home in India, aggressive profit-booking on D-Street offset the earnings cheer with Nifty on Friday dropping below 6300 to 6261, while the Sensex fell 200 points to close below 21,100 to 21064.

From precious metals space, gold edged higher on Monday to its highest in nearly six weeks, supported by weaker equities, which are lifting the metal's safe-haven appeal and improving the investor confidence.