NEW YORK — Wall Street closed another difficult session lower but well off its lows Thursday after a late-day rebound in financial shares lifted many other stock sectors.
Investors still kept their distance from technology shares after a lackluster forecast from Cisco Systems Inc.
Stocks extended the previous day’s steep losses after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that a raft of economic troubles could dent business growth and after Cisco’s comments touched off unease about business spending.
But buyers moved back in late in the session, apparently thinking the market’s sell-off had been overdone even with the host of concerns investors face, observers said.
Bernanke, appearing before Congress’ Joint Economic Committee with the Fed’s economic forecast, warned of threats to the economy but didn’t offer solid evidence the bank is prepared to further cut interest rates.
The slide seen during much of the session – at one point the Dow had fallen another 200 points – came a day after stocks tumbled amid concerns about continuing credit woes, a weakening dollar and rising oil prices.
Aware that jittery financial markets would parse his every word, Bernanke left the door open for a rate reduction if economic conditions worsen significantly.
“We are not dogmatic,” he said.
The U.S. economy grew at annual rates of nearly 4 percent over the past two quarters despite the deep slide in housing and a credit crunch on Wall Street that’s almost paralyzed routine lending in short-term debt markets.
“The broader economy outside housing has been remarkably resilient over the past couple of years,” Bernanke said. “The numbers we have seen over the past couple of weeks haven’t changed the view that the spillover (into the broader economy) … has been limited.”
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.73, or 0.25 percent, to 13,266.29. The decline comes a day after the blue chips fell 360.92.
Broader stock indicators also came off their lows. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.85, or 0.06 percent, to 1,474.77, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 52.76, or 1.92 percent, to 2,696.00.
