LONDON, 14 April 2005 — The dollar staged a recovery against the euro here yesterday for the second straight day despite more disappointing data on the US economy.

The single European currency in late-day deals was at 1.2917 dollars, down from 1.2923 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar was meanwhile trading at 107.30 yen after 107.67 on Tuesday.

European stock exchanges rallied yesterday on positive corporate news and lower oil prices. The London FTSE 100 index rose 0.30 percent to 4,960.8 while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.49 percent to close at 4,116.85. In Frankfurt the DAX gained 0.77 percent to end the session at 4,405.69. The DJ Eurostoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares rose 0.50 percent to 3080.54.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 11.45 points, or 0.11 percent, at 10,496.52. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 4.22 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,183.54. The technology-laced NASDAQ Composite Index was down 12.19 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,993.21.

Asian stocks closed narrowly mixed yesterday.

Meanwhile, world oil prices dropped sharply yesterday, hit by bigger-than-expected rises in US crude stockpiles, amid forecasts of falling global demand for energy, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, fell $1.16 to $50.70 per barrel in early deals. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in May lost $1.06 to $50.80 per barrel.

New York prices have slumped by 13 percent since supply worries pushed them to historic high points of $58.28 on April 4, the same day Brent crude rocketed to a record level $57.65. The US Department of Energy (DoE) said crude stockpiles for the week ending April 8 had risen 3.6 million barrels to 320.7 million barrels, against a rise of just 500,000 barrels expected by Wall Street.

The private-sector American Petroleum Industry reported an even higher rise of 4.04 million barrels to 325.34 million.

The DoE also reported gasoline stockpiles had risen 800,000 barrels to 213.1 million in the week, against market expectations for a small rise of 100,000 barrels.