SINGAPORE, March 18 (Reuters) - Stockmarkets took a breather on Friday after several days of sizeable gains, while commodities were set on edge by the lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations.

TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar headed for its first down week in six versus major peers on Friday, languishing near a one-week low, as investors continued to assess the impact of the start of the Federal Reserve rate increase cycle this week.

March 17 - Oil futures rose in early trading on Thursday, recovering some of the prior day's losses, after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said a decline in oil demand due to higher prices would not offset a shut-in of Russian oil supplies.

TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters) - Japan and Hong Kong led a jump in regional stocks on Thursday, joining a rally on Wall Street overnight as potential risks from Federal Reserve monetary tightening to the Ukraine war and a slowdown in China became less murky.

SINGAPORE, March 17 (Reuters) - The yen was pinned to a six-year low on the dollar and struggled against crosses on Thursday, as a rate hike with a hawkish outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve underscored just how far the Bank of Japan is likely to lag worldwide policy tightening.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates for the first time since 2018 and laid out an aggressive plan to push borrowing costs to restrictive levels next year in a pivot from battling the coronavirus pandemic to countering the economic risks posed by excessive inflation and the war in Ukraine.