European stocks mixed in choppy trade; Dax down 0.36%

European stocks were mixed in choppy trade on Thursday, as investors remained cautious after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on Wednesday. 

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.13%, France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.01%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slid 0.36%. 

In his semi-annual testimony before the Financial Services Committee in Congress Bernanke said the central bank expects to start tapering bond purchases by the end of the year, but added that there was no “preset course.”

Bernanke said the bank’s bond purchase program could be tapered at a faster pace, slower pace or even temporarily increased depending on economic and financial developments.

Bernanke said the economic recovery was continuing at a moderate pace but reiterated that monetary policy will remain accommodative for the foreseeable future. 

Financial stocks were mostly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale climbed 0.44% and 0.13%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank eased 0.09%. 

Peripheral lenders added to gains, with Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA rose 0.22% and 0.95% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit edged up 0.11%. 

Elsewhere, Ericsson tumbled 2.76% after reporting revenue that missed estimates, due to higher competition with Huawei Technologies for contracts to build and service phone systems. 

Germany's SAP also trended lower, diving 3.85%, after saying sales of software licenses slipped about 3% to EUR982 million. Software licenses are considered to be an indicator of future revenue. 

In London, FTSE 100 added 0.12%, led by gains in WPP, whose stock saw its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Galvan Research. 

Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly lower, tracking the downtrend in commodity prices. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton dropped 0.95% and 0.96% respectively, while Polymetal and Fresnillo plummeted 2.25% and 2.45%. 

In the financial sector, stocks were mixed. HSBC Holdings slipped 0.18% and the Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.13%, while Barclays and Lloyds Banking gained 0.45% and 0.65%. 

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.17% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.11% slip, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.21% loss. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on the Philly Fed manufacturing index.