Major US stock indices dropped significantly on Monday, offsetting the high growth rates of the Nasdaq index for the year and the first time sending the S & P 500 control index below the level of technical supervision in almost two months.

A certain influence on the dynamics of trading was provided by the US. As it became known, the index of business activity in the US manufacturing sector in March signaled a strong improvement in production conditions in the US. Release and new orders continued to grow significantly, despite the fact that the growth rate has slowed slightly since February. Job creation also remained strong and unfinished orders grew as a result of the recent rise in customer demand. Business confidence, meanwhile, has risen to the highest level since February 2015. Nevertheless, inflationary pressures intensified, with both procurement and selling prices accelerating to multi-year peaks. The seasonally adjusted PMI in the US manufacturing sector from IHS Markit (PMI) rose to 55.6 in March, compared with 55.3 in February. The last value of PMI marked the strongest improvement in the manufacturing sector since March 2015. The average PMI for the three months of 2018, meanwhile, showed the best quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2014.

At the same time, a report published by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed that in March, activity in the US manufacturing sector fell more than economists predicted. The PMI index for the manufacturing sector fell in March to 59.3 points against 60.8 in February. Analysts had expected the figure to drop to 60.1 points. In addition, more detailed information showed: the price index rose in March to 78.1 from 74.2 in February, the employment index fell to 57.3 from 59.7, the index of new orders fell to 61.9 from 64.2, the index production fell to 61.0 from 62.0, and the stock index fell to 55.5 from 56.7.

Almost all components of the DOW index finished trading in the red (28 of 30). Outsider were shares of Intel Corporation (INTC, -6.17%). Only UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH, + 1.14%) and McDonald's Corporation (MCD, + 0.43%) showed growth.

Almost all sectors of the S & P index recorded a fall. The largest decrease was in the services sector (-2.9%). Only the conglomerate sector grew (+ 0.6%).

At closing:

Dow 23,639.44 -463.67 -1.92%

S&P 500 2,581.67 -59.20 -2.24%

Nasdaq 100 6,870.12 -193.33 -2.74%

Before the bell: S&P futures -0.44%, NASDAQ futures -0.82%

U.S. stock-index futures fell on Monday, weighed down by concerns of escalating trade tensions, following the reports about imposition by China of tariffs on the U.S. agricultural and steel products in response to U.S. duties on imports of steel and aluminum.

Global Stocks:

On Saturday, March 31, US President Donald Trump "attacked" Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) on Twitter, stating that the online retailer "must pay at real rates (and taxes)!"

According to the president, the US postal service loses an average of $ 1.5 on each parcel carried out for Amazon. This together gives a loss of "billions of dollars."

Trump also adds that fraud with the postal service should stop, and Amazon should "pay at real rates (and taxes) now!"

In addition, Donald Trump criticized The Washington Post, which belongs to the founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos, for lobbying the interests of the retailer.

Shares of AMZN in premarket declined to $ 1,423.00 (-1.68%).

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Facebook (FB) target lowered to $138 from $152 at Pivotal Research Group

Alphabet (GOOG) target lowered to $1040 from $1110 at Pivotal Research Group

Production and total new orders both expanded at the weakest rates for four months, while export sales increased only marginally.

The headline Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite indicator designed to provide a singlefigure snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy - posted 51.0 in March, down from 51.6 in February. Although the reading signalled a further improvement in the health of the sector, the latest upturn was only slight and the weakest recorded since last November.

• Japan's real effective interest rate is falling as inflation picks up, heightens public inflation expectations

• Says hands note of protest to British envoy over London's "provocative actions"

• Has summoned representatives of embassies of Albania. Denmark, Ireland, Spain on friday

EUR/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.2402 (1532)

$1.2383 (2782)

$1.2359 (850)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.2316

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.2276 (5527)

$1.2237 (3642)

$1.2193 (4445)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options and PUT options with the expiration date April, 6 is 108872 contracts (according to data from March, 29) with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,2150 (6531);

GBP/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.4177 (2401)

$1.4143 (2204)

$1.4095 (2493)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.4039

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.3963 (1183)

$1.3927 (1153)

$1.3886 (3450)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options with the expiration date April, 6 is 30835 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,4200 (2808);

- Overall open interest on the PUT options with the expiration date April, 6 is 34003 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,3800 (3570);

- The ratio of PUT/CALL was 1.10 versus 1.02 from the previous trading day according to data from March, 29

* - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange bulletin (CME) is used for the calculation.

** - Open interest takes into account the total number of option contracts that are open at the moment.