US STOCKS-Market lower as Bernanke testifies, Intel drops

(Updates to midmorning)

By Kristina Cooke

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said economic growth would be sluggish at best in the near term and negative broker action on Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) sparked a sell-off in technology companies.

Bernanke said the central bank will act as needed to help the struggling U.S. economy but said the Fed believes growth should pick up later in the year.

"You might see some negative reaction if he elaborates further on the comment about the outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months," said Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles. "But I think that's the reason the Fed has been aggressive on rate cuts. So I don't necessarily know that there is any shift from what people's perceptions of his stance already is."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 61.94 points, or 0.49 percent, at 12,490.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 4.93 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,362.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 10.92 points, or 0.46 percent, at 2,363.01.

Shares of Intel fell 2.7 percent to $20.62 after Goldman Sachs removed the chip maker, a Dow component from its "conviction buy" list.

Financial companies' shares fell after Lehman Brothers cut its price target on Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and reduced its first-quarter earnings estimates on several large-cap broker dealers. Lehman said it expects further sizable markdowns from subprime, leveraged loans and commercial mortgages. Goldman Sachs fell 1 percent to $178.35.

But bond insurer MBIA Inc's (MBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares rose 6 percent to $12.34, while Ambac Financial (ABK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 3 percent to $9.65.