Bernanke did not lay out or allude to any new plans to introduce more stimulus measures, but investors said they believe the Fed is in "wait and see" mode.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 135 points, or 1.2%, to close at 11,285. The index had been down more than 200 points earlier in the day.
The S&P 500 (SPX) added 18 points, or 1.5%, to 1,180 and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP)
In his Friday morning speech, Bernanke made no reference to the Fed introducing additional measures to boost economic growth, noting that such moves may have to come from bodies outside of the Fed's control, like Congress.
The only notable action that Bernanke took was announcing the Fed would expand its September meeting from one day to two days. Investors took that as a sign that the central bankers need more clarity about the economy's actual condition and nothing -- including another round of quantitative easing -- was off the table.
"It looks like they're open to doing QE3, but they're going to wait for more data before taking action," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial. "It's only been a few weeks that the recent economic data has been bad."
The dollar fell against the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.
Oil for October delivery rose 13 cents to $85.42 a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery jumped $34.10 to $1,822.60 an ounce.
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