Investing.com - Most European markets were up on Wednesday as investors awaited the testimony of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before Congress, and in the wake of upbeat data on euro zone industrial new orders.
During European morning trade, Germany's DAX was up 0.14%; the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.23%; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.29%; and Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.37%
Spain's IBEX 35 erased much of its earlier losses, but was still down 0.78%.
Later in the day, at the financial committee of the House of Representatives, Bernanke was expected shed light on the central bank's sudden decision on Friday to hike an emergency bank-lending rate.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said earlier Wednesday that its industrial new orders index rose 0.8% on a monthly basis in December. Economists had expected the index to drop 1.2%.
The outlook for U.S. markets, meanwhile, was rosy: Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of 0.49%, S&P 500 futures pointed to an incrase of 0.51% and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a rise of 0.71%.
Also Wednesday, Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the country's economy stalled in the fourth quarter of 2009, amid weak private consumption.