US STOCKS-Wall St drops on chip makers, Bernanke

(Updates to midday)

By Jennifer Coogan

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after the Federal Reserve chairman said he saw sluggish economic growth ahead and unfavorable brokerage reports on two semiconductor makers sparked a sell-off in technology shares.

Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 3 percent after Goldman Sachs took the world's largest chip maker off its list of top picks, while two brokerages cut their price targets on Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O: Quote, Profile, Research).

Fed chief Ben 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.

"It doesn't seem to be a very inspired commentary. He hasn't hinted anything about rate cuts. The fact he hadn't may be giving people pause," said Kevin Kruszenski, head of listed trading at KeyBanc Capital Markets in Cleveland.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 104.13 points, or 0.83 percent, at 12,448.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 10.04 points, or 0.73 percent, at 1,357.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 22.35 points, or 0.94 percent, at 2,351.58.

Intel shares fell to $20.56 while Nvidia, the graphics chip maker, tumbled 12.1 percent to $23.74. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange semiconductor index fell 1.6 percent.

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 1.3 percent to $177.92. (Editing by Kenneth Barry)