World stocks drifted lower on Wednesday and the euro also slipped ahead of the Federal Reserve's closely-watched policy meeting, with concerns about a possible Greek default weighing on investor sentiment.
Persistent concerns about Greek sovereign debt limited any excitement ahead of the Fed, with Greece and international lenders yet to reach a deal to allow Athens more funds despite some progress.
The Fed is expected to announce at 1815 GMT plans to shift its portfolio in favour of longer-dated bonds and so push long-term interest rates -- already near historic lows -- even lower in a move known as Operation Twist.
However, it is not clear how effective such new measures would be in significantly bolstering U.S. growth, given that the economy is still slowing down after its $600 billion bond buying programme that ended in June.
"The market expects that the Fed will come up with some new plans to stimulate the economy. Investors will be extremely disappointed if the Fed does not announce a plan to rebalance its portfolio," said Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in Brussels.
"But if it does, we might see limited reaction as it is already priced in."
The MSCI world equity index was down 0.2 %on the day, staying around 4% above its one-year low set earlier in September.
U.S. stock futures were up around 0.2%, pointing to a firmer open on Wall Street later.
European stocks fell 0.5% while emerging stocks lost 0.3% on the day.
London Brent oil was up 0.2% at USD 110.79 a barrel.
Bund futures were down 4 ticks.
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