Asia shares, dollar steady as focus turns to Fed guidance

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asia shares inched higher while the dollar held firm on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's latest take on the U.S. economy and interest rates as almost a welcome diversion to the endless wrangling over Greece.

A rally on Wall Street helped Japan's Nikkei <.N225> gain 0.2 percent, while Australia's market <.AXJO> rose 0.4 percent.

MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> edged up 0.1 percent from a three-month low.

The index has been dragged by Chinese shares <.SSEC> which fell sharply on Tuesday ahead of a torrent of IPO's that could tie up about 6 trillion yuan ($966.7 billion) of capital.

On Wall Street, the Dow <.DJI> ended Tuesday up 0.64 percent, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> added 0.57 percent and the Nasdaq <.IXIC> 0.51 percent.

In Athens, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Greece's creditors on Tuesday of trying to "humiliate" Greeks with more cuts as he defied a growing drumbeat of warnings that Europe was preparing for his country to leave the euro.

The public rancour left little hope that a meeting of EU finance ministers on Thursday would make any progress.

Yet financial markets kept their nerve with yields on Spanish and Italian debt actually ending lower on Tuesday.

The single currency was a shade softer at $1.1242 but well within the $1.1150/1.1384 range of the past week or so. The U.S. dollar index <.DXY>, which measures it against a basket of currencies, was little changed.

The dollar also barely budged on the yen at 123.42 , with most major currencies in a holding pattern for the Fed.

The statement is due at 1400 GMT, followed half an hour later by Chair Janet Yellen's news conference where every syllable will be dissected for clues on the timing of lift off.

Also out after the policy meeting will be the committee members' latest forecasts for economic growth and interest rates, both of which might be nudged lower.

There will be particular attention on the median forecast for the funds rate over 2015 which could be trimmed from the previous 0.625 percent, in line with Yellen's assurance that any tightening cycle will be very gradual.

"Those looking for some type of concrete message that

September is effectively a done deal will likely be disappointed," says Tom Porcelli, chief US economist at RBC Capital Markets.

"For the time being we expect Yellen will stick to the view that every meeting is on the table consistent with their data dependent approach to maintain flexibility."

In commodity markets, U.S. crude prices rose on Tuesday as a tropical storm moved ashore in the oil-producing state of Texas, but global oversupply limited gains and pressured Brent.

U.S. crude futures edged up 2 cents to $59.99 a barrel, while Brent eased a cent to $63.69.

Gold was sidelined at $1,181 an ounce .

(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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