Investors focus on Fed chief\\\'s speech

Investors in world’s major financial markets will focus on a speech by US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen this week as the traders’ concerns about crises in Ukraine and Iraq start to ease. ‘As geopolitical concerns seem subdued for the time being, the market is shifting its focus to Yellen,’ said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, referring to a US conference where Yellen is to deliver a keynote address. ‘We don't expect any surprises, but it's still hard for us to take positions ahead of the event,’ said the broker. Last month Yellen told Congress the Fed would hold its near-zero interest rate policy until the US economy strengthens but may raise rates if the jobs market kept improving. Concerns over the situation in Ukraine were easing as Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to the crisis. In Iraq, the country's divisive premier Nuri al-Maliki dropped his bid to stay in power, bowing to huge domestic and international pressure as a jihadist-led offensive threatens to tear the country apart, according to a news agency.