The euro inched up on Wednesday and global stocks rose after the Greek government won a vote of confidence, boosting risk appetite that was also supported by signals that U.S. ratesetters will keep monetary policy accommodative.

Two-year Greek government debt yields fell while demand for safe-haven German bonds eased.

But investors stayed cautious with Greek Prime Minister Papandreou having to push through austerity measures next week to secure a 12 billion euro lifeline readied by international lenders to save the country from default.

The euro last traded at $1.4400, extending its recovery from a three-week low of $1.4073 it hit last Thursday, and not far from a high of $1.4435 touched after the vote in Athens.

World stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> were 0.14 percent higher at 334.38, although European shares <.FTEU3> were in the red, with the outcome of the Greek vote largely priced in by investors in the previous session.

The Greek vote is clearly a positive, but we've only cleared one hurdle of many, said Rabobank rate strategist Richard McGuire. There is still the near-term risk that policymakers may not be able to agree the issue of 'bail-ins' for private sector involvement in any debt restructuring.

While the move toward a controversial private sector participation in the Greek bailout process seems to have taken a back seat for now, investors will be wary of any uncertainty stemming from a lack of consensus, both at national and euro zone level.

MONEY FOR NOTHING?

The head of the world's largest bond fund, PIMCO, said Greece's way out of its debt problem would be through default and suggested Europe risked wasting its money by pumping in billions of dollars to rescue it.

But with the first Greek hurdle cleared, the focus shifted to the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting and comments from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke later on Wednesday.

The Fed is likely to acknowledge renewed weakness in the U.S. economy and reiterate its commitment to keeping interest rates low for an extended period.

This is unlikely to be good news for the dollar and could give higher-yielding currencies and riskier assets a boost.

The Federal Reserve meeting ...will probably weigh on the U.S. dollar since they will probably lower their GDP growth forecast, said You-Na Park, strategist at Commerbank.

It will make clearer the different approach regarding monetary policy between the European Central Bank and the Fed.

The dollar was down 0.1 percent against the yen at 80.20 yen while the dollar index <.DXY>, which tracks the currency against a basket of major currencies, was flat at 74.60.

Brent crude edged higher after five sessions of losses, with crude for August up at $111.53.

Gold was steady at $1,545.93 per ounce, little changed from Tuesday's close. Bullion, one of the chief beneficiaries of worries about the security of currencies and other assets, set a record high of $1,575.79 per ounce in early May.

Copper, meanwhile, was down slightly at $9,031 per tonne after rising almost 1 percent in the previous session.

(additional reporting by Marius Zaharia and Nia Williams; editing by John Stonestreet)

Ben Bernanke