Wall Street pulled back Tuesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke comments gave little signal on interest rates cut.

During a speech to an international monetary conference in South Africa, Bernanke said the economy will recover from its recent feeble performance, despite a housing slump.

The inflation was "ebbing" but remains "somewhat elevated," added the chairman.

Meanwhile a strong reading on the service sector suggested the central bank has no reason to lower interest rates.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management on the service sector in May showed that the non-manufacturing index came in at 59.7, up from a reading of 56.0 in April.

The Dow fell 80.86, or 0.59 percent, to 13,595.46, after earlier falling more than 100 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.23, or 0.53 percent, to 1,530.95, while the Nasdaq composite index shed 7.06, or 0.27 percent, to 2,611.23.