The Federal Open Market Committee begun its two-day meeting on Tuesday, with a monetary-policy announcement and Bernanke's news conference due on Wednesday.
The timing and pace of potential reduction in asset purchases by the Fed is currently buying $85 billion in bonds each month.
On Tuesday, oil futures added 67 cents to settle at $98.44 a barrel, while gold declined to a near four-week low of $1,366.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The U.S. dollar(DXY) fell against currency rivals but not against the yen, while the 10-year Treasury yield used in determining mortgage rates and other consumer loans stood at 2.182%.