* Dollar hits 3-year low, no change of tack seen from Fed
* World stocks edge higher, Europe up for fifth session
* No let up for fringe euro zone bonds
* Silver rebounds after sharp losses
(Updates prices, adds bonds, sterling, U.S. stock futures)
By Mike Peacock
LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar plumbed a three-year low against other major currencies on Wednesday before a Federal Reserve decision which is expected to reaffirm its ultra-easy policy, while world stocks crept higher.
The dollar skidded to 73.493 against a currency basket, driven by widening interest rate differentials, before recovering slightly.
The index is now close to 10 percent below its peak in January and many traders expect it eventually to revisit an all-time low of 70.698 hit in 2008.
The Fed is set to confirm it will complete its $600 billion bond-buying programme and renew its commitment to rock-bottom borrowing costs for "an extended period".
Interest is particularly intense because Ben Bernanke will hold the first-ever regularly scheduled news conference by a U.S. central bank chief at around 1815 GMT.
"It's clear Fed monetary policy is the reason for dollar weakness. If we don't get any hint that the Fed will normalise, the dollar will continue to stay under selling pressure," said Lutz Karpowitz, currency strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
While the Fed continues to print money, the European Central Bank raised rates for the first time in two years this month and is poised for a repeat dose before too long.
The euro flew to a high of $1.4715 after breaking above $1.47 for the first time since December 2009. It was last at $1.4670, having traded below $1.29 at the start of the year.
Within the euro zone, there was no let up for the bonds of the bloc's high debtors as speculation that Greece will have to restructure ran unchecked.
Greek government bond yields surged to fresh euro-era record peaks, with 10-year borrowing costs nearing an eye-watering 16 percent, while Portuguese 10-year yields edged up to a new high of 10.18 percent as the country's caretaker government negotiates on the terms of a bailout.
WORLD STOCKS FIRM
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.5 percent at 1,152 points by 1100 GMT, gaining ground for the fifth session as investors focused on strong results from bellwethers such as Ericsson and Renault.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly firmer start on Wall Street, following solid company earnings on Tuesday, and world stocks as measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index were up 0.25 percent at 352.87.
Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.4 percent but it could face downward pressure after ratings agency Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on Japan's sovereign debt to negative, a move which caused the yen to slip.
Aside from the ECB, Asian and Latin American central banks have also been tightening monetary policy for some time.
The split in monetary policy has helped revive the "carry trade", in which investors borrow in a low-yielding currency to invest in higher-yielding assets or currencies.
Investors have been snapping up the high-yielding Australian dollar -- against which the greenback hit a 29-year low on Wednesday following a big jump in Australian inflation -- while China let the yuan rise to a post-2005 revaluation high, triggering gains in emerging Asian currencies.
On the other hand, prospects of a near-term Bank of England rate rise receded further after a reading of first quarter UK growth only just reversed the previous quarter's fall.
Sterling rose, nevertheless. Traders said the market had positioned for a weaker reading which drove investors to quickly cut short positions after the fact.
SILVER LINING
Silver, the superstar commodity of the year, steadied from a three percent fall on Tuesday, its biggest one-day loss in six weeks, which followed Monday's rally to near record levels.
Spot silver was flat at $45.25 an ounce and is on track for a 21 percent gain this month and a 47-percent rise this year, making it the top performing precious metal.
Spot gold steadied at $1,505.50 by 1100 GMT, well below Monday's record high at $1,518.10. Brent crude for June rose 36 cents to $124.50 a barrel.
"Oil will continue to trade in this range till the outcome of the Fed meeting is known at least," said Serene Lim, an analyst at ANZ. (Additional reporting by Naomi Tajitsu in London, Blaise Robinson in Paris and Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Catherine Evans/Toby Chopra)