LONDON, 2 April 2003 — Stock markets steadied globally yesterday, while the dollar bounced back slightly and oil prices slipped as traders perked up following recent gloom over the war in Iraq. However with little visible progress made by US and British troops fighting toward Baghdad, the improved sentiment was caused mainly by either bargain hunting or a series of individual local factors unconnected to the Gulf.

In New York, stocks added to gains at midday yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 85.85 points, or 1.07 percent, to 8,077.98, and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 9.36 points, or 1.10 percent, to 857.54. The technology-laced NASDAQ Composite Index gained 9.11 points, or 0.68 percent, to 1,350.28.

Leading European shares ended the first day of the second quarter yesterday on an uptick.

The British FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 2.0 percent to close at 3,684.8 points, the German DAX 30 index increased 1.1 percent to 2,450.2 points and the French CAC 40 index edged up 0.63 percent to 2,635.0 points. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro-zone shares — which had plunged 4.5 percent on Monday — rebounded 1.5 percent to 2,067.2 points.

In Zurich, the Swiss market index closed at 4,135.5 points, up 49.9 or 1.22 percent. In Milan, the Mibtel closed at 16,226 points, up 141 or 0.88 percent.

Asian stock markets were trapped in a tight range yesterday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei 225 index ended the first day of the new Japanese financial year up 0.18 percent or 14.01 points at 7,986.72. In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index lost 37.56 points to close at 8,596.89.

In Sydney, the All Ordinaries index was down 4.4 points at 2,844.2. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 14.76 points to 1,282.58. In Seoul, the composite index closed up 2.86 points at 538.56.

The dollar steadied yesterday after suffering heavy recent losses. The single European currency dipped to 1.0900 dollars from 1.0933 late on Monday in New York. The dollar rose to 118.10 yen from 117.95 on Monday.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold fell to $334.34 from $334.85 on Monday afternoon.

World oil prices eased yesterday. US light crude dipped $1.39 to $29.65 while London benchmark Brent futures fell 88 cents to 26.28 a barrel.