Chairman Ben Bernanke

The US trio of former US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for economics.

Yellen, in just her second week on the job since succeeding Ben Bernanke earlier this month, will want to reinforce the central bank's determination to halt the money-printing presses later this year while ensuring investors that a rise in interest rates remains a long way off, economists say.

With the world's financial markets watching, Yellen, who succeeded Ben Bernanke last week, will have a chance to set a mostly upbeat tone and point to signs of steady economic progress, despite some recent bumps in the road.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will join the Brookings Institution, a politically centrist policy think tank based in Washington, beginning on Monday.

The push-back came on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's last day on the job and two days after the U.S. central bank reduced the pace of its huge asset purchase program. The Fed made the move on Wednesday despite a bruising selloff in emerging markets that was prompted in part by the prospect of less U.S. monetary support.

On Wednesday, Bernanke, 60, quietly adjourned his final policy-setting meeting after an unusually tumultuous eight-year stint atop the world's most influential central bank.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who hands the Fed's reins to vice chair Janet Yellen on Friday, managed to adjourn his last policy-setting meeting without any dissents from his colleagues. It was the first meeting without a dissent since June 2011 - a sign of how tumultuous Bernanke's tenure has been.

Yellen, 67, the central bank's No. 2 since 2010, will take over as chair of the Fed after Ben Bernanke's term comes to a close at the end of this month. In doing so, she will take the reins of the world's largest economy and become the most powerful person in the world of finance.

A Senate vote is set for 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Yellen, 67, who has been vice chair of the U.S. central bank since 2010.

With the world's financial markets on edge, the U.S. central bank wraps up a two-day meeting with a highly anticipated policy announcement at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), followed by Ben Bernanke's last news conference as Fed chairman a half hour later.

Fischer, 70, is widely respected as one of the world's top monetary economists. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he once taught current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president.

Job growth has strengthened in recent months, and Fed officials expect continued improvement in the coming year. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke predicted in June that the central bank would taper its purchases by the end of this year, and officials say they still could announce such a cut next week, when the Fed's policymaking committee is scheduled ...

Bullion failed to make any headway despite dovish comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke about the bank's bond purchases as a lack of major U.S. economic data and lacklustre physical demand prevented investors from taking any big positions.

In a speech to the National Economists Club that echoed dovish comments by his nominated successor, Janet Yellen, Bernanke also said that while the economy had made significant progress, it was still far from where officials wanted it to be.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in his first public comments on personal plans after he steps down from the Fed in January, said on Tuesday he will be "writing and speaking" on topics that have consumed his tenure at the U.S. central bank.

The US trio of former US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for economics.

Yellen, in just her second week on the job since succeeding Ben Bernanke earlier this month, will want to reinforce the central bank's determination to halt the money-printing presses later this year while ensuring investors that a rise in interest rates remains a long way off, economists say.

With the world's financial markets watching, Yellen, who succeeded Ben Bernanke last week, will have a chance to set a mostly upbeat tone and point to signs of steady economic progress, despite some recent bumps in the road.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will join the Brookings Institution, a politically centrist policy think tank based in Washington, beginning on Monday.

The push-back came on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's last day on the job and two days after the U.S. central bank reduced the pace of its huge asset purchase program. The Fed made the move on Wednesday despite a bruising selloff in emerging markets that was prompted in part by the prospect of less U.S. monetary support.

On Wednesday, Bernanke, 60, quietly adjourned his final policy-setting meeting after an unusually tumultuous eight-year stint atop the world's most influential central bank.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who hands the Fed's reins to vice chair Janet Yellen on Friday, managed to adjourn his last policy-setting meeting without any dissents from his colleagues. It was the first meeting without a dissent since June 2011 - a sign of how tumultuous Bernanke's tenure has been.

Yellen, 67, the central bank's No. 2 since 2010, will take over as chair of the Fed after Ben Bernanke's term comes to a close at the end of this month. In doing so, she will take the reins of the world's largest economy and become the most powerful person in the world of finance.

A Senate vote is set for 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Yellen, 67, who has been vice chair of the U.S. central bank since 2010.

With the world's financial markets on edge, the U.S. central bank wraps up a two-day meeting with a highly anticipated policy announcement at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), followed by Ben Bernanke's last news conference as Fed chairman a half hour later.

Fischer, 70, is widely respected as one of the world's top monetary economists. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he once taught current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president.

Job growth has strengthened in recent months, and Fed officials expect continued improvement in the coming year. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke predicted in June that the central bank would taper its purchases by the end of this year, and officials say they still could announce such a cut next week, when the Fed's policymaking committee is scheduled ...

Bullion failed to make any headway despite dovish comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke about the bank's bond purchases as a lack of major U.S. economic data and lacklustre physical demand prevented investors from taking any big positions.

In a speech to the National Economists Club that echoed dovish comments by his nominated successor, Janet Yellen, Bernanke also said that while the economy had made significant progress, it was still far from where officials wanted it to be.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in his first public comments on personal plans after he steps down from the Fed in January, said on Tuesday he will be "writing and speaking" on topics that have consumed his tenure at the U.S. central bank.