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Donbas offensive, strong jobs markets and expensive commodities.Donbas offensiveRussian forces have fully withdrawn from northern Ukraine ah [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Donbas offensive, strong jobs markets and expensive commodities. Donbas offensive Russian forces have fully withdrawn from northern Ukraine ahead of what’s expected to be a major [offensive]( in the Donbas region to the east. At least [27 people were killed]( and 30 others were wounded in a Russian rocket strike on a railway station, Ukraine said. U.S. officials [warned]( the war may last for weeks, months or even years, as Kyiv’s foreign minister pleaded for military assistance. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits Kyiv on Friday, where she’ll meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. European Union members agreed to ban coal imports from Russia. Workers wanted Tight labor markets around the world are forcing companies to hike wages. U.K. companies are [raising]( starting salaries at the quickest pace on record to compensate for the fastest inflation in three decades. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is [lifting]( pay for new truckers to up to $110,000 as the U.S. continues to grapple with a shortage of drivers. And applications for the country's state unemployment insurance [fell]( last week by more than forecast, adding further evidence that the labor market remains scorching hot. Commodity outlook The European Union signed off on a sanctions package that includes the [banning of coal]( imports from Russia, while in the U.S., Congress sent President Joe Biden a bill for his signature that will end imports of Russian [oil, gas and coal](. Crude is [rising this morning]( after yesterday's selloff, with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate at $96.86 by 6:04 a.m. in New York. Later today, Baker Hughes will publish their latest rig count as Biden tries to force more [domestic production](. Data this morning from the United Nations showed that food continues to become more expensive, with an index of global prices [soaring a record 13% in March](. Stocks climb European [stocks rallied]( more than 1%, staging a solid open before drifting off the highs, with energy, banks and autos seeing the strongest gains. S&P 500 futures rose a modest 0.25%. Bonds traded in a relatively tight range. 10-year Treasury yields rose before stalling just shy of 2.7%. Most currencies held steady, with the dollar slightly firmer versus the majors. Spot gold steadied near $1,930/oz. Coming up... The data slate is relatively light to round off the week, limited to an 8:30 a.m. release of Canadian March unemployment and a 10 a.m. print of the final February U.S. wholesale inventories. Central bank commentary will be focused on the European Central Bank, with governing council members including Fabio Panetta and Gabriel Makhlouf scheduled from 7:30 a.m. onward. On the commodities front, aside from the Baker Hughes rig count around 1 p.m., we have the USDA April WASDE report. What we've been reading Here's what caught our eye over the past 24 hours. - blasts Dimon and Buffett at [Bitcoin 2022](. - [Food prices jump]( most on record. - [French elections]( no longer look like a done deal. - German support for [firms hurt by war](. - [Covid Zero]( defended in China. - Here’s which apps are [trending in Russia and Ukriane](. - [Rising mortgage rates]( are worrying home sellers. And finally, here’s what Garfield’s interested in this morning Federal Reserve officials seem to become [more hawkish]( every time they appear in public, but this week brought a change in tack all the same. Even as the central bank’s almost desperate focus on fighting inflation spurred traders to price in the most aggressive hikes since 1994, the real bombshell came when Governor Lael Brainard put quantitative tightening on the table for May’s meeting.  There was more than a whiff of complacency evident in the way yield curves flipped from serial inversions to an outbreak of re-steepening, while risk assets shuddered. There are still many, including Goldman Sachs, who remain concerned the Fed will have to spark a recession to rein in inflation. Pacific Investment Management was less certain about the recession angle, but did say inverted curves are an ominous development. To further discussions flagged in last week’s missive, whichever curve the Fed might favor, it seems to lean toward steepness. The central bank’s slowly-does-it attitude to trimming bill holdings is set to anchor rates at the short end, and that should also mitigate against flattening moves. Amongst all this, the Fed may be starting to convince bond markets that it will be able to cool inflation as it normalizes policy. The benchmark real yield has started flirting with a return to the positive, and the move was accompanied by a slide in breakeven rates -- signaling stronger expectations that inflation will cool. Some pandemic-era favorites such as megacap tech and gold could face pain if real yields get fat, but that would also have the potential to draw more buy-and-hold investors back to bonds. Elsewhere across global markets, Japanese bonds outperformed as yields remained repressed after last week’s stunning series of interventions from the Bank of Japan. Australia’s bonds had a much rougher time of it, with yields popping to multi-year highs as the Reserve Bank ditched its “patient” stance on policy to feed the hunger of traders betting the central bank will soon hike rates at the fastest pace in at least two decades. Follow Bloomberg's Garfield Reynolds on Twitter [@GarfieldR1966]( Special Daily Brief: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine [Keep up with the latest news]( on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of the worst security crises in Europe since World War II. Like Bloomberg's Five Things? [Subscribe for unlimited access]( to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Follow Us Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. 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