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United Airlines down after US FAA boosts oversight into

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Crypto stocks gain as bitcoin prices recover

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Intel ( INTC ), AMD ease on report China bans use of their chips in

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Futures off: Dow 0.17%, S&P 0.26%, Nasdaq 0.40%

(Updated at 07:00 a.m. ET/1100 GMT)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Bansari Mayur Kamdar

March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped at

the start of a holiday-shortened week on Monday, as investors

look ahead to commentary from Federal Reserve officials as well

as a key inflation marker later in the week.

Both the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow logged

their best weekly percentage gains so far this year on Friday,

with the Fed sticking to its guidance of three interest rate

cuts this year.

HSBC became the latest brokerage to lift its year-end target

for the benchmark S&P 500, raising it to 5,400 from the 5,000 it

had forecast previously.

"The higher target stems from better earnings expectations

supported by resilient GDP growth, recent earnings beats, and

positive sentiment from corporates in the last earnings season,"

HSBC strategists said in a note.

"Our target is predicated on the Fed cutting rates in

June with 75bp total cuts in 2024, in line with consensus and

Fed expectations based on the recent dot plot."

Traders now see a 75% chance of the Fed bringing in the

first cut in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from

around 55% at the start of last week.

However, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said late on

Friday he now expects just a single quarter-point cut instead of

the two he had projected, citing persistent inflation and

stronger-than-anticipated economic data.

A number of Fed officials, including Chicago Fed President

Austan Goolsbee, are set to speak later in the day.

The crucial February reading of the personal consumption

expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred inflation

gauge, is due on Friday, when U.S. markets will be shut for the

Good Friday holiday.

A hot reading for the PCE index could dent market optimism

around early rate cuts.

Final estimates of fourth-quarter GDP and a March consumer

confidence reading are also due in the next few days and will

round off the last trading week of the March quarter.

At 07:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 68 points,

or 0.17%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 13.5 points, or

0.26%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 73.75 points, or

0.40%.

Intel ( INTC ) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) slid 2.8%

each in premarket trading following a report that China has

introduced guidelines to phase out U.S. microprocessors made by

the chipmakers from government personal computers and servers.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks such as

exchange operator Coinbase Global ( COIN ), crypto miner Riot

Platforms ( RIOT ) and software firm MicroStrategy ( MSTR )

added more than 2% each, tracking a more than 5% advance in

bitcoin prices.

Most megacap growth stocks edged lower, with Tesla

leading the losses.

United Airlines fell 4.2% after the U.S. Federal

Aviation Administration said it is increasing its oversight of

the company.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion

spending package into law on Saturday, keeping the U.S.

government funded through a fiscal year that began six months

ago.