Wall Street hits record highs as dovish Yellen defends QE

Janet Yellen has defended the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing programme in her first appearance before Congress.

Yellen (pictured), who is expected to be the first woman to lead the US central bank, took questions from the Senate banking committee ahead of her confirmation. The Federal Reserve’s vice chair said the US has made “good progress” towards economic recovery but has not yet fully regained its pre-crisis strength. Yellen added the Fed’s $85bn (£53bn) bond-buying programme has been crucial in supporting the economic recovery.  "We have made good progress, but we have farther to go to regain the ground lost in the crisis and the recession," she said. “Unemployment is down from a peak o...