Stocks Can't Shake Financial Worries

He also believes Bernanke's comments were a "nonevent" for equities, even as they seemed to influence currency and commodities markets. After all, he noted, the assumption that the Fed will pause its rate-cutting had already been built into the market over the last two to three weeks.

The central bank has eased its fed funds target rate by 325 basis points since September in an effort to pull the slowing U.S. economy from the brink, but lower rates can also exacerbate inflation, so traders tend to see any emphasis of inflation worries as a sign that the Fed will employ a more moderate policy.

Nolte, however, remains unconvinced that the door has been shut entirely to further easings. "There's still a fair amount of economic weakness yet to be seen, and the Fed may want to cut rates again," he said.

Hanlon, for his part, said, "I'm not sold on how quickly or aggressively they're going to return to the rate-hike table. The credit markets are still pretty stuck. If they return to raising interest rates, I'd be all for that, but it would be a very, very clear statement by the Fed that's quite concerned about the dollar, and any such hikes would be all about the U.S. dollar."

The fed funds rate currently stands at 2%.

Bernanke also expressed worry that commodities prices will continue to rise, calling that possibility "an important risk to the inflation forecast" and noting that the American public's inflationary expectations could get out of hand as commodities skew overall inflation numbers. Those expectations, he warned, "could ultimately become self-confirming."