New York - US stock markets gave up all their gains after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke confirmed a gloomy picture of economic growth just 15 minuted before the closing bell Tuesday.
A buoyant day turned into the fifth straight losing session after Bernanke told an audience that the weak housing sector was holding back the recovery and that job creation was in a "far from normal" slump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 18.32 points (0.15 percent) at 12 071.64 in closing trade, after trading as much as 88 points higher during the day.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 1.22 (0.09%) to 1,284.95, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.00 (0.04%) to 2 701.56.