LONDON: Ukraine's hryvnia currency rebounded on Friday from record dollar lows after Kiev reached out to the IMF for emergency aid amid simmering international tensions.
The Ukrainian crisis weighed on many European stock markets, which were balancing its impact against data generally showing encouraging signs of economic growth.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 stocks hovered 0.01 percent lower at 6,809.53 points mid-session.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 1.13 percent to 9,613.29 points and the Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.21 percent to 4,387.32 points.
Wall Street opened little changed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 0.03 percent five minutes into trading to 16,267,48 points. The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.05 percent at 1,855.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.13 percent to 4,324.66.
The Commerce Department lowered its estimate of fourth-quarter US economic growth to an annualised rate of 2.4 percent, revising its initial estimate of a 3.2 percent GDP expansion.
Investors also digested a mixed session in Asia after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen provided an upbeat view of the US economy, and hinted the central bank could ease up on its stimulus taper if the growth outlook weakens.
In a crisis measure, Ukraine's central bank capped cash withdrawals to 15,000 hryvnia (1,095 euros, $1,400) per day, in the latest sign of the desperate state of national finances and a run on bank accounts.
The news came one day after Ukraine requested financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as Kiev struggles to emerge from a bloody political crisis amid heightened tensions with Russia.
The national hryvnia currency rose to around 9.100 to the dollar, having plunged to a historic low of 11.3075 on Thursday. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Friday urged calm over Ukraine, saying: "We do not see anything that is critical, that is worthy of panic at the moment."
Kathleen Brooks, analyst at trading site Forex.com, said "the global show of support for Ukraine, especially from the US, and the IMF loan request are the bigger drivers of hryvnia strength today".
Brooks added: "A pullback from record lows versus the dollar is to be expected, especially now that imminent bankruptcy looks like it has been avoided."
Ukraine leader vows to fight on:
Concerns remained over the developing Ukraine situation though, with Kiev's pro-EU interim authorities saying they had regained control of two Crimean airports seized during an "armed invasion" by Russian forces.
Ousted president Viktor Yanukovych resurfaced in Russia with insistence that he had not been overthrown. "I was compelled to leave Ukraine due to an immediate threat to my life and the lives of those close to me," he said. "I intend to continue the fight for the future of Ukraine against those who try to saddle it with fear and terror."
Markus Huber at London-based brokerage Peregrine & Black said optimism in European markets "is currently being neutralised by uncertainty coming out of the Ukraine".
He added: "Towards the end of trading today ahead of the weekend it will be interesting to see who will keep the upper hand, with some (investors) possibly reducing their risk exposure due to the unrest in the Ukraine."
Euro hits 2014 high:
Elsewhere, the euro jumped to $1.3824 its highest level so far this year as stronger-than-expected eurozone inflation dampened talk of a rate hike next week from the European Central Bank (ECB).
That compared with a level of $1.3710 late in New York on Thursday. Eurozone inflation stood at 0.8 percent in February from a year earlier, official data showed on Friday.
Market expectations had been for a reading of 0.7 percent. "The higher-than-expected inflation numbers reduce the chances of an ECB rate cut at next week's meeting and we maintain the view that on balance the central bank will keep rates on hold," said ABN Amro economist Nick Kounis.
The European single currency rose to 82.60 British pence from 82.15 pence on Thursday. The pound gained to $1.6722 from $1.6688. On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold fell to $1,327.75 an ounce from $1,332.25 on Thursday.
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