European stocks hold gains as Bernanke speech approaches; Dax up 0.20%

European stocks held gains on Wednesday, as markets awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress, scheduled later in the day. 

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.41%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.44%, while Germany’s DAX 30 edged up 0.17%. 

Markets were jittery ahead of Bernanke's testimony on monetary policy amid speculation over the timing of a possible reduction to the bank’s USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program.

Stocks rallied last week after Bernanke said the U.S. economy still needed monetary stimulus. 

Bernanke was expected to reiterate that the bank could start scaling back its asset purchase program by the end of this year if the economy continues to pick up, but interest rates will remain at record lows for the foreseeable future. 

Financial stocks turned broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.18% and 1.07%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank slipped 0.13%. 

Peripheral lenders added to losses, with Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander shed 0.38% and 0.62% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit fell 0.28%. 

Elsewhere, L’Oreal plummeted 3.03% after the cosmetics maker said quarterly sales advanced 5.2%, missing market estimates due to a slowdown in North American revenue. 

In London, FTSE 100 eased up 0.08%, after the minutes of the Bank of England’s July meeting showed that policymakers voted unanimously to keep the bank’s quantitative easing program unchanged. 

Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto remained sharply higher, jumping 1.88% and 3.82% respectively, while Anglo American rallied 1.51% and Randgold Resources surged 3.66%. 

BHP Billiton said earlier that iron-ore production rose to a record 47.7 million metric tons in the second quarter, from 40.9 million tons a year earlier. 

Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed, as shares in Barclays fell 0.23% and HSBC Holdings edged down 0.16%, while Lloyds Banking and the Royal Bank of Scotland gained 0.55% and 0.64%. 

According to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Barclays and four former traders must pay a combined USD487.9 million in fines and penalties, in an order tied to an investigation of alleged manipulation of energy markets. 

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.16% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.14% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.01% dip. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on building permits and housing starts.