Stock prices wavered as investors tried to process a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
At an early morning speech in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Bernanke avoided promising a new monetary stimulus program, which some investors had been hoping for. Bernanke suggested that Congress needed to act to help support the economy.
But Bernake also said the central bank's board would talk at its meeting next month about possible new measures the central bank can take to support the economy, and will do "all it can."
Before his speech, stock markets were down, in part due to new government statistics showing that the U.S. economy grew at a 1% annual rate in the second quarter of this year, lower than had been expected.
After the speech, stock prices initially headed down further but then turned around. The Dow Jones industrial average was recently up up 20.06 points, or 0.2%, to 11,169.88.
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--Nathaniel Popper
Photo: Associated Press/Jin Lee.
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