By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The euro was riding near five-month highs on Wednesday on Ukraine's readiness to accept a month-long ceasefire, while stocks whipsawed on back-and-forth U.S. tariff plans as levies on steel and aluminium imports kicked in.

European equity futures jumped 1.1% and FTSE futures rose 0.5% on news the U.S. would restore military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine after Kyiv agreed to accept a U.S. ceasefire proposal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Wednesday, speaking in the context of a possible Ukraine peace deal, that Moscow will avoid compromises that would jeopardise people's lives, Russian agencies reported.

The euro hit its highest since October on Tuesday at $1.0947 and was steady at $1.0913 in Asia trade. Russia's rouble rose to a seven-month high on the previous day. [FRX/]

U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs of 25% took effect on Wednesday - with fairly muted effect on the share prices of Asian steel mills - and drew counter-tariffs from Europe.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat but fragile. Australia's benchmark closed 9.6% below February's record high.

Markets in Hong Kong and China were broadly steady, South Korea and Taiwan bounced and Japan's Nikkei held its ground after slumping to a near six-month low a day earlier.

On Wall Street the S&P 500 had flirted with notching a 10% fall from February's record closing high, and finished a volatile session about 0.8% lower. [.N]

President Donald Trump threatened then backed down from a doubling of steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada to 50%, after Ontario suspended plans for a surcharge on exported electricity.

The dollar has sunk, Treasuries have rallied and lately stocks have suffered their heaviest selling in months as traders worry tariffs and policy uncertainty will hurt U.S. growth.

"Where we stand now is with a heightened concern about the U.S. economy, not having yet taken our model forecast down, but having put in a roughly 40% recession risk into the outlook for the year," J.P. Morgan chief global economist Bruce Kasman told reporters in Singapore.

"If the U.S. goes into recession, then we enter into a more complicated story, because then you have to recognise that U.S. spillovers to the rest of the world tend to be very large through financial channels."

Investors nervous about the economy punished downbeat financial results from retailers, with Dick's Sporting Goods stock diving 5.7% on a dour outlook and Kohl's Corp shares plummeting 24% after reporting a drop in sales.