Yellen is replacing Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose second term runs out in January next year.

Yellen is considered one of the strongest supporters of the Fed’s economic stimulus program and a prime architect of the Fed’s quantitative easing program.

The bank’s QE program, which has pumped more than $3.6 trillion of easy money into financial markets to date, weakens the dollar and increases the risk of inflation.

From a standing start in December 2008, the Fed’s balance sheet is set to top $4 trillion by the end of the year.

The gold price has increased more than 50% since QE1 when the ruling price was $837 an ounce.