(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged lower at the start of a holiday-shortened week on Monday, as investors look ahead to speeches from Federal Reserve officials and 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 for three interest rate cuts this year.
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 slate 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 the U.S. markets will be shut for the Good Friday holiday.
A hot reading for the PCE index can dent market optimism around early rate-cuts.
Final estimates of fourth quarter GDP and a March consumer confidence reading are also due later in the next few days, which round off the last trading week of the March quarter.
At 5:15 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 44 points, or 0.11%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 5.75 points, or 0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 32.75 points, or 0.18%.
Intel and Advanced Micro Devices fell over 2% each in premarket trading following a report that China has introduced guidelines to phase out U.S. microprocessors from the chipmakers from government personal computers and servers.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks such as exchange operator Coinbase Global, crypto miner Riot Platforms and software firm MicroStrategy jumped between 2.7% and 5.1%, tracking a more than 5% advance in bitcoin prices.
Most megacap growth stocks edged lower, with Tesla lagging with an 0.8% decline.
AI-giant Nvidia rose 0.9%, after notching up its eleventh consecutive weekly gain.
United Airlines fell 2.1% after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it is increasing its oversight of the company.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a $1.2 trillion spending package, keeping the U.S. government funded through a fiscal year that began six months ago.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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