Stocks fall after Bernanke offers no stimulus

Stocks are falling in morning trading after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered no new steps to stimulate the U.S. economy.

Hopes had been building on Wall Street for some kind of announcement from Bernanke of additional steps to get the economy going again. Bernanke was speaking at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down about 78 points, about 0.7 percent, shortly before the speech started at 10 a.m. Eastern. Minutes after Bernanke started speaking the Dow was down 173 points, or 1.6 percent, at 10,977.

A downward revision of U.S. economic growth in the second quarter was also pushing stocks lower.

The S&P 500 index was down 18 points, or 1.6 percent, at 1,141. The Nasdaq fell 27, or 1.1 percent, to 2,393.