European shares edged higher

European shares edged higher on Wednesday as investors anxiously awaited fresh talks aimed at averting a Greek default, while the dollar held on to most of the previous day's gains on prospects of higher US interest rates. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet the heads of the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission in Brussels before a meeting of euro zone finance ministers at 1700 GMT. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.14 per cent in early trade, extending Tuesday's rise to three-week highs. Greek shares, however, fell 2.1 per cent. German 10-year Bund yields, the low-risk benchmark for euro zone borrowing costs, fell 1.1 basis points to 0.86 per cent. In the foreign exchange market, the dollar fell 0.4 per cent against a basket of currencies, but held on to most of Tuesday's 1.2 per cent gains. The euro rose 0.4 per cent to $1.1217 and the yen was up 0.1 per cent at 124 to the dollar, according to Reuters.