NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as disappointing financial results from Exxon Mobil Corp. offset Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comment that the Fed could pause in its interest rate increases.

The Dow industrials were under pressure after Exxon missed analysts' profit forecasts, sending its shares lower, and after China raised interest rates, a move that hurt shares of heavy machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. and other U.S. companies with sales to China.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 14.09 points, or 0.12 percent, at 11,340.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.09 points, or 0.01 percent, at 1,305.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.62 points, or 0.03 percent, at 2,334.25.

The possibility of a pause in credit tightening by the Fed boosted shares of interest-rate sensitive utility stocks and financial shares, such as Bank of America Corp.

Bernanke said told Congress U.S. interest rate rises will be increasingly driven by economic data and policy makers could at some point pause in their 22-month credit-tightening campaign to assess the outlook.

"So far financial markets like what they're hearing from the chairman," said John Augustine, chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Asset Management.

"What's having the most impact is the acknowledgment that they don't overshoot or the risk of a sharper slowdown in economic growth than is expected," he added.

Stock investors have worried that the Fed could raise interest rates too far, crimping economic growth and hurting corporate profits.

The S&P Utilities sector index reversed a two-day decline, rising 1.1 percent to 157.83. The S&P Financial sector Index was up 0.6 percent at $447.13. Bank of America shares rose 1 percent to $48.20 and earlier touched a year high of $48.39.

Exxon shares were down 1.6 percent at $62.09 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The People's Bank of China decided to raise the benchmark one-year lending rate on Thursday, prompting concerns about slower growth in the world's most populous country.

That prompted more worries about Caterpillar's future growth prospects, as the company has benefited greatly from growth in China. Caterpillar shares were down 1.7 percent at $74.70 on Thursday. Its shares have declined more than 4 percent since its earnings report on Monday.

Shares of health insurer Aetna Inc. fell 15.1 percent to $39.40 on worries about the company's ability to tame medical costs amid rising pricing competition.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Coogan)