European stock markets climbed on Wednesday, ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's semiannual testimony, with investors looking for hints on when the central bank will start tapering its bond purchases. The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.2% to 295.90, after losing 0.7% on Tuesday. Shares of BHP Billiton PLC picked up 2% after the mining giant said iron-ore production hit a record high in its past financial year. Semiconductor-equipment maker ASML Holding NV rose 1% after raising its full-year sales outlook. Shares of French cosmetics group L'Oréal SA gave up 2.8% after the firm reported a slowdown in market growth in the first half of the year. More broadly, Fed head Ben Bernanke was in the spotlight ahead testifying before lawmakers at 3 p.m., or 10 a.m. Eastern Time. In a new approach to these appearances, his prepared remarks will come out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Since the chairman in late May started talking about the prospect of tapering the central bank's asset purchases, markets have been closely scrutinizing hints of when a reduction may set in. "Our guess is that he will try to pull off the trick of continuing to prepare the groundwork for tapering, but try to give bond markets something to help them fight off the pressure of higher yields," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note. U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street. Back in Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index posted one of the biggest country-specific gains, buoyed by miners after BHP's production update. The index traded 0.5% higher at 6,590.69. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC climbed 1.7% and Anglo American PLC added 0.5%. Shares of Unilever PLC lost 1.4% in London after Credit Suisse cut the consumer-goods firm to underperform from neutral. France's CAC 40 index put on 0.4% to 3,865.27 and Germany's DAX 30 index traded 0.3% higher at 8,221.47. Source : Marketwatch
