* Fed meeting dominates sentiment
* Dollar weakens against major currencies
* Euro zone bond sales go well
* World stocks eke out gains, Wall Street looks to open flat
By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent
LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - World stocks ticked upwards and the dollar fell broadly on Tuesday as investors braced for a Federal Reserve meeting that may discuss whether the fragile U.S. economy needs a fresh infusion of cash.
Wall Street looked set to open flat.
What had been increasing pressure on peripheral euro zone debt eased, meanwhile, with an Irish bond auction going smoothly and a successful sale of Greek T-bills..
The focus of the day was the Fed's regular meeting. There was little expectation of any firm moves from the policymakers, but, as ever, the wording of their statement would be key.
At issue is how close the stumbling U.S. economy is to requiring the return of quantitative easing -- effectively printing money to buy mortgage bonds and securities.
"The statement might be quite dovish, which could intensify speculation of more QE later in the year," said Niels Christensen, currency strategist at Nordea in Copenhagen.
One of the "victims" of the mood was the dollar, which fell around 0.4 percent against a basket of major currencies.
"The consensus is that the Fed won't announce any QE today, but no one wants to be long dollars going into the meeting," Christensen said.
The euro was up half a percent at $1.3130, also supported by solid demand at euro zone debt sales in some of the troubled peripheral economies, some of which have been looking to be heading into crisis again.
Greece sold 390 million euros ($512 million) of 3-month T-bills at an average yield of 3.98 percent, down from 4.05 percent in a previous July 20 sale. Overseas investors bought 72 percent, a sign of relative confidence.
Ireland sold 1.5 billion euros in an auction of 2014 and 2018 bonds, at the top of its target range. Yields -- 4.767 percent and 6.023 percent respectively -- were well below those seen for the bonds on secondary markets on Monday.
"Very strong auctions from Greece and Ireland. This along with the spread tightening we've seen this morning and the strong bid-cover ratios means this funding round for Ireland, and Greece, has been passed convincingly," said Peter Chatwell, rate strategist at Credit Agricole.
STOCKS TICKING OVER
The Fed meeting was keeping stock investors tentative.
World stocks as measured by MSCI were up 0.1 percent while the Thomson Reuters equivalent index was closer to 0.2 percent.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 gained 0.2 percent.
"Investors are waiting on the sidelines. Yesterday the market went up in anticipation that the Fed can do something about the economy, but I think people are ignoring the macroeconomic condition," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities in Brussels.
U.S. economic data on tap for Tuesday includes housing starts for August.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei hit a seven-week intraday high of 9,704.25 but ended down 0.3 percent or 23.98 points at 9,602.11. (Additional reporting by Jessica Mortimer, William James and Atul Prakash)