European stocks close mixed

LONDON: Europe's main stock market indices closed mixed Friday, with the London's FTSE 100 sliding 0.40 per cent to 6,527.89 points.
In Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.80 percent to 4,216.37 points, while the Dax 30 in Frankfurt gained 0.43 percent to 9,056.41 points.
Earlier report adds: European equities slid Friday as investors fretted over this weekend's referendum in Crimea on the peninsula's bid to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.
The downbeat performance capped a weak of losses as markets were spooked also by mounting worries over an economic slowdown in China.
In afternoon trading, London's FTSE 100 shed 0.59 per cent to 6,515.44 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 slid 0.50 per cent to 8,972.75 and the Paris CAC 40 gave up 0.73 per cent to 4,219.39.
"As the Russian Bear casts its shadow over markets and plays chess with investors it is no wonder they have been heading to safe havens."
Meanwhile: Asian equities also sank further on Friday, after a heavy sell-off in New York and Europe in reaction to another batch of poor Chinese data and flaring Ukraine tensions.
Tokyo slumped 3.30 percent, Seoul slid 0.75 percent, and Sydney shed 1.54 percent.
Shanghai lost 0.73 percent while Hong Kong closed 1.00 percent lower.
Meanwhile: US stocks opened slightly lower Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially flat at 16,108.57 points after five minutes into trade.
The broad-based S&P 500 edged down 0.08 percent to 1,844.91, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.19 percent to 4,252.47.
Stocks had slumped Thursday on talk of Europe and the US implementing tough sanctions against Russia.
In Moscow, stocks plunged to a four-year low Friday as jittery investors dumped their holdings ahead of the referendum.
The capital's two main indices MICEX and RTS opened down, but losses accelerated to more than 5.0 percent by midday before recovering to declines of 2.29 percent and RTS 2.91 percent, respectively.
"The outcome of this weekend's referendum on Crimea's future will ... be critical," said ING economist James Knightley.
Meanwhile, in foreign exchange deals on Friday, the European single currency edged up to $1.3887 from $1.3867 late on Thursday in New York. The dollar dipped to 101.33 yen from 101.78 yen..