NEW YORK (AP) — The dollar zigzagged on Friday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke laid out steps the central bank would consider to bolster a weakening economy.

Bernanke said the Fed would consider a large-scale purchase of securities, likely government debt. Such a move would drive interest rates lower, which could trigger more spending by Americans and help propel the US economy, but would make dollar-denominated assets less attractive to investors looking for higher yields on their bets.

The euro slid as low as $1.2677 immediately after Bernanke began talking, but recovered to $1.2731 in late trading, up from $1.2703 late on Thursday.

The dollar also slumped versus currencies of countries that are big exporters of commodities. The Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and Brazilian real all rose against the dollar, as did the Scandinavian currencies.

The Fed chairman stopped short of laying out a specific course of action, but said that the central bank would act if the economy deteriorated significantly and prices dropped. He said that the economy remained vulnerable to shocks, and the recovery in output and the jobs market has slowed more than the central bank had expected.

On Friday, the government said that the US economy grew at a 1.6 percent pace, down sharply from its previous estimate of 2.4 percent growth. Economists had expected the revision would be even larger, showing only 1.4 percent growth.

"He's open and ready to continue down path of quantitative easing if need be," said Michael Woolfolk of the Bank of New York Mellon. "The consequences of lower interest rates are going to come home to roost."

Quantitative easing refers to the Fed's efforts to lower interest rates by buying up government debt or other securities. It used these tactics during the financial crisis while keeping the key overnight rate at a record low range near zero since December 2008.

The dollar got an immediate bounce after Bernanke's speech was made public, but gave back most gains versus currencies considered more risky in later trading, such as the euro and currencies of commodity exporters and developing countries. The Standard & Poor's index and prices for industrial commodities such as oil and copper also rose. Commodities, stocks and currencies considered more risky tend to rise when investors get good news on the economy.

The dollar held on to gains versus the Japanese yen, another currency perceived as a safe haven by traders. It rose to 85.37 Japanese yen from about 84.60 yen before the speech began. The dollar was worth 84.38 yen late Thursday.

The dollar also got a boost versus the yen after Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan made his strongest comments so far Friday on the recent surge in the yen. He told reporters that Japan would take "decisive action" when necessary against excessive foreign exchange volatility, and he will meet with Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa next week.

The Japanese government has not intervened in foreign exchange markets since 2004.

The yen hit a 15-year high versus the dollar on Tuesday. A strengthening yen cuts into the profit of Japan's exporters, which could undermine the country's shaky recovery.

The US currency also rose versus the Swiss franc, another popular safety purchase. The dollar rose to 1.0294 Swiss francs from 1.0247 francs.

In other trading Friday, the British pound edged lower to $1.5511 from $1.5526.