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LONDON, Apr 12 (Reuters) Global stocks fell on Wednesday as oil held around $69 a barrel while the dollar rose after the US trade data showed a narrower deficit than expected.

The February deficit eased to $65.74 billion from a revised record of $68.59 billion in January. Economists had predicted a $67.50 billion shortfall.

The euro slipped to a session low of $1.2091 from around $1.2120 just before the data, while the dollar rose against the yen to 118.35 yen from 118.15 yen.

US Treasury debt prices pared gains on the data, which hinted at strong first quarter economic growth. Benchmark 10-year notes yielded 4.91 percent Treasury trade was quiet ahead of Easter, but weaker stocks offered support and investors were largely unwilling to sell with oil prices so high and Iran saying it had enriched uranium.

US stock futures signalled a flat to slightly higher open, helping European shares trim losses. A rise in British mobile giant Vodafone on talk Verizon would soon approach the group about buying its stake in Verizon Wireless, was also supportive.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index was still 0.1 percent down at 1,365.8, having lost 1.1 percent on Tuesday on worries over high oil prices hitting corporate profit growth.

Japan's Nikkei fell for a third day, closing 1.5 percent down at 17,162.55.

CRUDE ROBUST The crude price remained robust on continuing tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions with US weekly oil inventories at 1430 GMT expected to show another fall in gasoline supplies.

Other commodities such as copper and zinc softened, hurting mining stocks, after the metals hit record highs in the previous session on fund buying and supply worries.

Gold was up slightly but was just below a 25-year peak of $604 an ounce touched on Tuesday while silver also nudged higher having struck a 23-year high of $13.01 the previous day.

The MIB 30, Italy's top share index, slipped 0.1 percent, recovering some poise despite Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi refusing to concede defeat in the election and sparking fears of political paralysis.

A bright spot for European stocks was shares in London Stock Exchange, which shot up 14 percent after Nasdaq bought 15 percent of the company, prompting expectations of a full bid at a later date or a bidding war.

Euro zone government bond futures were slightly higher as German inflation was revised lower.

REUTERS SBJ HS2113