Investing.com - U.S. stocks finished Friday mixed after a fresh flare up in the Russia-Ukraine conflict spooked investors, though bottom fishing took equities indices off earlier lows.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow 30 fell 0.30%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.01%, while the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.27%.
The Volatility S&P 500 index, which measures the outlook for market volatility, was up 5.88% at 13.15.
Events unfolding in Ukraine sent stocks falling hard earlier Friday.
Ukrainian said its artillery destroyed a portion of a Russian column of armored vehicles inside Ukraine, which rattled nerves in markets globally.
Russia said the reports were untrue, denying that armored vehicles were in Ukraine, which allowed stocks to come off earlier lows in a session that saw hefty swings due uncertainty and in part to low trading volumes.
Mixed data kept stocks prices largely in negative territory, though bottom fishing brought tech stocks in particular back into positive territory.
The preliminary Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index ticked down to a nine-month low of 79.2 in August from 81.8 in July. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 82.5 this month.
Separately, the New York Federal Reserve said that its Empire State manufacturing index fell to a four-month low of 14.69 this month from 25.60 in July, worse than expectations for a decline to 20.0.
Data also showed that U.S. producer price inflation rose 0.1% on year last month, in line with expectations, after a 0.4% increase in June.
Core producer price inflation, which excludes food, energy and trade, rose 0.2% in July, in line with market projections, and after a 0.2% gain the previous month.
A separate report showed that U.S. industrial production rose 0.4% in July, beating expectations for a 0.3% gain.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), up 1.75%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), up 1.21%, and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), up 0.76%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Visa Inc (NYSE:V), down 1.08%, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), down 0.99%, and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), down 0.83%.
European indices, meanwhile, ended the day largely lower.
After the close of European trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.97%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.74%, while Germany's DAX fell 1.44%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 rose 0.06%.