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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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Indexes down: Dow 0.15%, S&P 0.26%, Nasdaq 0.51%

(Updated at 9:32 a.m. ET/ 1332 GMT)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Bansari Mayur Kamdar

March 25 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes kicked off the holiday-shortened

week lower on Monday as investors looked ahead to commentary

from Federal Reserve officials and key inflation data, while

Boeing ( BA ) gained after the planemaker said its CEO would be

stepping down.

Both the S&P 500 and the 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 for 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 9:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was

down 60.12 points, or 0.15%, at 39,415.78, the S&P 500

was down 13.55 points, or 0.26%, at 5,220.63 and the Nasdaq

Composite was down 83.55 points, or 0.51%, at 16,345.26.

Boeing ( BA ) limited losses on the blue-chip Dow, adding

2.4% after it announced CEO Dave Calhoun would step down from

his position at the end of 2024.

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

and 3.3%, respectively, following a report that China has

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

the chipmakers from government personal computers and servers.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index shed 1%, while

most megacap growth stocks also edged lower in early trading.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks such as

exchange operator Coinbase Global ( COIN ), crypto miner Riot

Platforms ( RIOT ) and software firm MicroStrategy ( MSTR )

added between 4.5% and 6.7%, tracking the recovery in bitcoin

.

United Airlines fell 4.0% after the U.S. Federal

Aviation Administration said it was increasing its oversight of

the company.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.77-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.41-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq recorded 41 new highs and 21 new lows.