European stocks close flat after a choppy session

By Kit Rees and Julien Ponthus

LONDON (Reuters) - European stocks closed flat on Wednesday at the end of a choppy session during which hawkish comments by the European Central Bank lifted the euro and bond yields.

The pan-European STOXX 600 <.STOXX> index ended the day unchanged with bourses closing in different directions across the continent.

Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> was up 0.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 <.FCHI> was down 0.1 percent and London's FTSE <.FTSE> up 0.3 percent.

The ECB's chief economist said robust growth was making the central bank increasingly confident that inflation is on its way back to target, raising the likelihood it may use a meeting next week to reveal more about the end of its bond-buying program.

That prospect pushed bond yields across the euro zone higher, making stocks chosen for their generous dividends less attractive in comparison.

The rise of the euro to a 10-day high also weighed on European companies which have large revenues in dollars.

Consumer groups L'Oreal , Unilever and Imperial Brands (NYSE: IMB) were the worst performers among blue chips, losing between 2 percent and 2.5 percent.

Banking stocks <.SX7P>, which typically benefit from higher interest rates, rose 0.7 percent with Italian lenders recovering further from political instability in the country.

Commodities stocks <.SXPP> rose close to 2 percent due to strong copper prices while the recent rally in tech stocks <.SX8P> continued its course, adding 0.2 percent.

Among individual stocks, RPC (NYSE: RPC) was the biggest faller, tumbling about 12 percent after the plastic packaging leader said it was looking to sell assets.

(Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Andrew Roche)

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