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United Airlines down after US FAA boosts oversight into

carrier

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

govt

computers

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Futures down: Dow 0.19%, S&P 0.33%, Nasdaq 0.55%

(Updated at 8:16 a.m. ET/ 1216 GMT)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Bansari Mayur Kamdar

March 25 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main stock indexes eyed a lower open on Monday

as investors looked ahead to commentary from Federal Reserve

officials and key inflation data later in the week, while Boeing ( BA )

rose after the planemaker said its CEO would be stepping down.

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.

Traders now see a nearly 71% 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, late on Friday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael

Bostic cited persistent inflation and stronger-than-anticipated

economic data and said he now expects just a single

quarter-point cut, instead of the two he had projected earlier.

A number of Fed officials, including Chicago Fed President

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

"Stocks could consolidate ahead of Easter," said Raffi

Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at XM.

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.

"The other risk is that any reaction could be exaggerated

amid low liquidity around the Easter holiday weekend, as U.S.

markets will be closed on Friday and won't reopen until Monday,

when most other major markets will remain shut," Boyadjian said.

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.

Meanwhile, 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.

At 8:16 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 75 points,

or 0.19%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 17.5 points, or

0.33%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 102.5 points, or

0.55%.

Intel ( INTC ) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) slid 3.9%

and 3.3%, respectively, 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.

Boeing ( BA ) added 2.4% after the planemaker said its CEO

Dave Calhoun would step down from his position at the end of

2024.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks such as

exchange operator Coinbase Global ( COIN ), crypto miner Riot

Platforms ( RIOT ) and software firm MicroStrategy ( MSTR )

added between 1.3% and 4.1%, tracking a more-than-5% advance in

bitcoin.

Most megacap growth stocks edged lower with Tesla

leading the losses, down 1.2% after Mizuho downgraded its rating

to "neutral".

United Airlines fell 3.1% after the U.S. Federal

Aviation Administration said it was increasing its oversight of

the company.