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 gained after the planemaker said its CEO would be stepping down.
Both the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and the Dow (.DJI), opens new tab 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 (.DJI), opens new tab was down 60.12 points, or 0.15%, at 39,415.78, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab was down 13.55 points, or 0.26%, at 5,220.63 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab was down 83.55 points, or 0.51%, at 16,345.26.
Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab 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.O), opens new tab and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab 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 (.SOX), opens new tab 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.O), opens new tab, crypto miner Riot Platforms (RIOT.O), opens new tab and software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR.O), opens new tab added between 4.5% and 6.7%, tracking the recovery in bitcoin .
United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab 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.
Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here.
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Pooja Desai
