NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has apparently learned his lesson - at least as far as the nation's financial markets go.

Bernanke was careful to avoid any comment Thursday about the big stock market rally that followed his remarks Wednesday about inflation and the economy, the first of his two-days of economic testimony on Capitol Hill.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's had a rough couple of months in terms of communicating with investors.

"I don't comment on the markets. Nice try," he told one lawmaker who asked him about the rally during a question-and-answer session with the House Financial Services Committee.

The cautious stance came after Bernanke, who's been at the helm of the Fed less than six months, was roundly criticized over a comment he made about the markets last spring.

Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in late April that further interest-rate hikes would be dependent on economic data, and that the central bank might pause in its rate-hike campaign - remarks that sent stocks higher.

But he told CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo later that week at the White House correspondents' dinner that he was worried that investors had misunderstood him - seeing him as too soft on inflation.

When the CNBC report aired, stocks sank as investors bet that the central bank was not as close to pausing after nearly two years of raising its key short-term rate target.

Bernanke was roundly criticized for making market comments to Bartiromo that were not immediately available to the public. (Full story).

In Thursday's testimony, the Fed Chairman repeated the comments he made Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee, saying inflation was higher than the central bank had expected, mostly due to rising energy prices, but would was expected to cool as economic growth slows.

He also expressed support for efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate hedge funds.

"The SEC has an import role in insuring that information given to investors is accurate and I agree with their efforts," he said Thursday.

He repeated his belief that inflation will be contained in the long runs as long as there are no further spikes in energy prices.

"We have a baseline inflation forecast which assumes a gradual decrease if energy prices don't go through another big increase," he said.

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