Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke managed to buoy investors on Friday even though he did not announce a hoped-for new round of stimulus programmes for the economy - and even though US economic growth was less than had been expected, dpa reported. Major US stock indices recovered losses from the day before after Bernanke indicated he was "more optimistic" than the naysayers and expressed his confidence that the economy would return to growth rates consistent with pre-recession performance. Speaking to a global group of central bankers, Bernanke also gave assurances that the Fed was ready to act again if necessary. Those assurances seeemed also to override the Commerce Department's report that the US economy had only grown 1 per cent in the second quarter instead of the earlier estimate of 1.3 per cent. The second-quarter GDP rise, which will be fine tuned next month in a final estimate, follows on a scant 0.4 per cent GDP increase in the first quarter. The blue-chip Dow Jones Index gained 134.72 points or 1.21 per cent, to 11,284.54. The broader S&P 500 Index added 17.53 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 1,176.80. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 60.22 points, or 2.49 per cent, to 2,479.85. The US currency lost against the euro to 68.975 euro cents from 69.53 euro cents on Thursday. The dollar also slipped against the Japanese currency to 76.67 yen from at 77.51 yen.
