NEW YORK, June 8, 2011 (AFP) US stocks slid lower Wednesday as investors digested a lackluster Federal Reserve outlook on the frail economic recovery, amid signs of slowing output in Europe.
After a fifth straight losing session Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 15.59 points (0.13 percent) at 12,055.22 at 1435 GMT.
The broader S&P 500 dropped 3.20 points (0.25 percent) to 1,281.74 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 14.04 points (0.52 percent) to 2,687.52.
"The US equity markets are under pressure amid some disappointing data out of Germany and following Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's lowered assessment of the US economy, adding to the recent increase in global economic uneasiness," Charles Schwab analysts said.
Bernanke confirmed a gloomy picture of economic growth in a speech Tuesday, saying the weak housing sector was holding back the recovery and that job creation was in a "far from normal" slump.
The Fed publishes its Beige Book report on US economic conditions in all of the central bank's districts Wednesday afternoon.
Weak data from Germany, Europe's biggest economy, weighed on sentiment. German industrial output slipped in April for the first time since December.
Energy stocks were lifted after OPEC agreed to maintain output quotas at a Vienna meeting, sending global oil prices sharply higher.
ExxonMobil, the Dow's biggest component, was up 1.5 percent at $81.17.
McDonald's slipped 0.7 percent to $80.59 after reported disappointing sales in May.
Bonds climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.95 percent from 3.01 percent late Tuesday, while that on the 30-year bond dropped to 4.21 percent from 4.27 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
