Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com – The Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. makes it a calm session on world markets. However, Chinese and European stock prices are rising after Shanghai announced that they would be lifting more Covid-19 lockdowns. Although Eurozone inflation appears to have exceeded expectations in May and the ECB chief economist has again ruled out a half point increase in interest rates for July. The EU leaders will meet again later but they are still struggling to resolve Hungarian objections regarding the planned ban on Russian oil imports beginning at the end of this year. The weakness of the U.K.’s economy is slowly but surely reaching the housing market. This is what you should know about financial markets Monday 30 May.

1. Chinese open their doors again

Shanghai has been released from Covid-19, and the city announced that public transport services will resume from June 1.

The city authorities also said restrictions on private cars will be lifted and movement into and out of housing communities will also be allowed from the same date – except for residential complexes in medium and high-risk areas and other designated control areas.

The restrictions on China’s most important economic hub have been in place for over two months, and have been triggered sharp declines in local economic output and a fresh surge in global supply chain problems.

After a week in which there were steadily decreasing numbers of cases, authorities said that the Covid-19 epidemic was now under control.

In response to the rally, benchmark Chinese stock indexes increased by up to 1,0% while European indices grew by slightly less.

2. EU scrambles for Russian Oil Embargo  

The EU’s proposed embargo on Russian oil imports is still l.

Hungarian objections were not met by negotiations over the weekend leading to a two-day summit. The proposed ban on the import of crude oil and refined products would be in force at the close of the year. However, temporary exemptions have been granted for oil supplied via the Druzhba’s southern arm which provides food to Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Slovakia.

The report states that EU leaders will sign off on a package worth $10 billion of financial aid for Ukraine in order to maintain its government’s functioning and also discuss ways to increase the export of Ukrainian grains to global markets.

Russia’s efforts to take over eastern Ukraine continue to be a success on the battlefield. Ukrainian officials confirmed that street fighting took place in Sieverodonetsk (the largest municipality in Luhansk) which is still under the government’s control.

3. Surprise! The Eurozone inflation surprise surprises are to the upside

Although inflation may be at its peak in the United States, it continues to accelerate in Europe.

The Eurozone’s biggest economy and largest country, Germany, reported preliminary data that prices rose by 0.9% to 1.1%. This is up from 0.8% nationally in April, and defies expectations of a slowdown down to 0.5%. At 8 AM ET (1200 GMT), a preliminary figure is expected for the entire of.

Both in and saw a price rise of 0.8%. This pushed the annual rates up to 8.7% and 9.0% respectively.   

In comments made before the data, ECB chief economist told the newspaper Cinco Dias that two increases of 25 basis points in the ECB’s key rate this summer were preferable to a half-point increase in July.

4. U.K. housing market weakens

Finally, the slowdown in UK’s economy has reached the housing market.

Data from online real estate agent Zoopla showed the proportion of home offers being discounted  in the last month rising to 5% of the total. According to Zoopla, the average price drop is 10%.  It is also taking longer for homes to be sold.

Zoopla reported that in April, the annual inflation in home prices slowed down to 8.4% from 9.0%. The company expects this to drop further to 3% at the end of 2012.

This will not stop house prices from reaching new records, despite a persistent mismatch in supply and demand.

5. On the back of a rebound in Chinese demand, oil prices rise

Crude oil prices pushed higher in response to the news out of China, which paves the way for a recovery in demand from the world’s biggest importer.

Futures rose 0.4% to $115.47 per barrel by 6:30 AM ET. They were 0.5% higher at $116.18 per barrel at the same time.

The U.S. released data on Friday showing that speculative long-term interest in oil reached its highest level in 2 months. This is due to the possibility of a revival in Chinese demand and continued shortages.