By The Associated Press

(AP) - EASING BACK: Stocks slid and bond yields rose sharply after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank could start to pull back on its bond purchases later this year if the economy improves enough, and end the program by mid-2014.

YIELD SPIKE: The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note jumped to 2.36 percent, the highest since March 2012, from 2.21 percent earlier in the day. Traders anticipated that demand for bonds would wane as the Fed buys fewer of them and as the U.S. economy continues to improve.

STOCK SLUMP: The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 206 points, or 1.4 percent, to 15,112. The stock market started to fall after the Fed released its policy statement at 2 p.m. and Bernanke started speaking a half-hour later. It was the Dow's seventh straight move of 100 points or more.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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