NEW YORK — Stock indexes closed lower Tuesday, giving up earlier gains, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economic recovery remains uneven. Bernanke offered no new steps to stimulate growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average had been up 89 points but turned lower in the late afternoon as Bernanke’s speech started. The Dow’s loss of 19 was the fifth straight decline for the index, the longest such string since August.
Bernanke said the U.S. economy had not grown as quickly as had been expected so far this year. He said growth has been held back by disruptions of industrial supplies from Japan following the tsunami and nuclear disaster there and by higher gas prices.
Bernanke expects the economy to pick up in the second half of the year, but he acknowledged that the pace of the growth remains “frustratingly slow from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers.”
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 19.15 points, 0.2 percent, to close at 12,070.81. The Standard and Poor’s 500 dipped 1.23, 0.1 percent, to 1,284.94. The Nasdaq composite shed 1, less than 0.1 percent, to settle at 2,701.56.
Some investors had been hoping Bernanke would announce additional measures to support the economy. Major indexes fell after it became clear that Bernanke was not wavering from his view that the U.S. economy is growing gradually and does not need more stimulus. The Fed’s $600 billion bond-buying program, which is aimed at keeping interest rates low, is ending at the end of June.
“People are getting skittish,” said Brian Wenzinger, a portfolio manager at Aronson Johnson Ortiz in Philadelphia. “Housing is getting worse, and they’re rethinking a possible double-dip recession.”
