LONDON - Global equities regained some poise on Wednesday while the dollar made modest gains as investors awaited a Federal Reserve meeting.

After two sessions of falls, Europe’s pan-continent STOXX 600 index added 0.3 percent, helped by encouraging earnings reports from Barclays, Deutsche Bank and French luxury group Kering.

After Asian markets closed, focus quickly turned to the Fed.

Investors are primed for any hints on when the central bank will start reducing its purchases of government bonds and any new insight into its views on inflation and economic growth.

The statement from the Fed policy meeting is due at 2 pm EDT (1800 GMT), with a news conference by Chairman Jerome Powell expected half an hour later.

In US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were 0.1 percent higher, signalling a recovery on Wall Street after stocks on Tuesday retreated a little from the record highs.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.3 percent firmer after three straight sessions of losses.

With investors holding off on major bets before the Fed meeting, the dollar made marginal gains after earlier being pinned down by demand for safe-haven currencies.

The US dollar index moved into positive territory after trading lower in Asian hours, with the greenback last up 0.1 percent at 92.575.

The currency has had a month-long rally after a hawkish shift from the Fed in June.

The Chinese yuan edged back from three-month lows. It had its worst day since October on Tuesday.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes strengthened to 1.2644 percent, up from the US close of 1.234 percent.

Greek government bond yields hit new lows on Wednesday as the promise of more central bank largesse to counter the Delta coronavirus variant pushed up demand for even the lowest rated euro zone countries.

Greece’s benchmark 10-year government bond yield dropped a basis point to a seven-month low of 0.61 percent.

Oil prices rose as industry data showed US crude and product inventories fell more sharply than expected last week, outweighing worries that surging COVID-19 cases would curb fuel demand. US crude rose 0.52 percent to  US$72.02 a barrel and Brent crude rose 0.31 percent to  US$74.71 per barrel.

Gold held steady, with spot prices flat at  US$1,797.97 near the key psychological level of  US$1,800, while Bitcoin rose around 3.2 percent, trading just above  US$40,000.