U.S. Stocks Fall a 2nd Day as Investors Weigh Bernanke Comments

Bloomberg, (04 /01) -- U.S. stocks fell a second day, following the biggest annual rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in more than 15 years, as investors weighed comments from Federal Reserve officials on stimulus and the economy’s strength.

The S&P 500 dropped less than 0.1 percent to 1,836.27 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index’s decline yesterday snapped a streak of five straight gains on the first trading session of January, as investors sold shares following the best annual rally since 1998. The Dow average climbed 27 percent last year for its best performance since 1995. The S&P 500 fluctuated today, erasing an earlier loss of as much as 0.2 percent after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the headwinds that have held back the U.S. economy may be abating, leaving the country poised for faster growth. The gauge erased that gain in the final half hour of trading. “The combination of financial healing, greater balance in the housing market, less fiscal restraint, and, of course, continued monetary policy accommodation bodes well for U.S. economic growth in coming quarters,” Bernanke said today in remarks prepared for a speech in Philadelphia. The chairman, who has led the central bank during its record quantitative-easing program, ends his eight-year tenure on Jan. 31.