Cooling-off ahead of the ECB, JOLTs in focus

The crude oil rally slowed on Wednesday, gold retreated to 2030, the US dollar edged lower, and Asian stock markets struggled to gain traction. Investors are wary about slowing economic growth and demand disruption caused by sky-high commodities prices.

Euro stocks hammering losses

On the other hand, European shares opened on a positive note as news emerged that the European Union would offer joint bonds on a potentially massive scale this week to finance energy and defence spending. The ECB meeting and EU leaders' summit later this week will provide more details on the topic. In the early trading session, the Euro Stoxx 50 and German DAX futures gained around 2%, while the FTSE futures advanced around 1.40%.

On Wednesday, the euro trades above 1.09280, recovering from its 22-month low of 1.08060 hit on Monday.

Concerns over demand disruption

While commodity currencies are gaining in popularity as surging export prices boost their value, interest in these currencies has been waning since sky-high raw material costs weigh on consumers and stifle global growth.

Events of today

Data on US jobs is expected to be released later today, closely watched by the markets. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTs) is a US Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. Recent data points indicate that the labour market remains tight. The number of US job openings is expected to remain steady at around 10.925 million.

Traders are now waiting for the ECB's latest policy decision, expected on Thursday. With rising commodities prices likely to stunt European growth, the central bank may delay rate hikes until later in the year due to the possibility of stagflation.