US STOCKS-Dow eyes lower open as Boeing weighs, rate-cut doubts remain

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Boeing set to lose over $12 bln in market cap after MAX 9 groundings

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Oil stocks fall on Saudi price cuts, rise in OPEC output

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Futures: Dow down 0.32%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.15%

(Updated at 8:21 a.m. ET/ 1321 GMT)

By Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas

Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Dow was poised for a lower open on Monday on a tumble in Boeing shares following the grounding of some its jets, while the other major U.S. indexes eyed a subdued open on uncertainty around the timing of interest-rate cuts.

Boeing slid 6.2% in premarket trading after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the temporary grounding of some 737 MAX 9 jets fitted with a panel that blew off an Alaska Air Group jet in midair on Friday.

The aircraft manufacturer could lose about $12.5 billion in value if losses hold through market open.

"It could impact the airline sector because the 737 (MAX) is a real workhorse of the many airlines fleets," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.

"So it's a drag and a real black mark on Boeing and the company has to come out strongly and say how they're fixing this and how it's not going to happen again."

Alaska Air Group slumped 4.6% after the carrier canceled more than 200 flights following the FAA order, while other airlines like JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines lost between 0.5% and 1.9%.

On Friday, the benchmark S&P 500 notched its worst week since late October as investors turned cautious and scaled back expectations on when the Federal Reserve could begin interest rate reductions.

Adding to the uncertainty was hotter-than-expected employment numbers and soft services sector data last week that painted contrasting pictures about the health of the world's biggest economy.

Remarks by Atlanta's Raphael Bostic, a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voting member this year, due at 12:30 p.m. ET, will be parsed for his stance on monetary policy easing, after Dallas' Lorie Logan warned over the weekend that the Fed may need to resume raising its short-term policy rate.

Money markets now see a 61% chance of at least a 25-basis-point (bps) rate cut as early as March, down from over 85% in the final weeks of 2023, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Investors were also awaiting two December inflation reports later in the week and commentary by a slew of policymakers for clues on the Fed's monetary policy trajectory.

At 8:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 122 points, or 0.32%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.75 points, or 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 24 points, or 0.15%.

Energy stocks including Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy and Marathon Oil lost around 1% each, tracking an over 3% fall in crude prices.

Among others, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup were flat to 0.6% down, while Bank of America was up 0.3%. The lenders will kick off the earnings season on Friday, with hopes high for upbeat profits.

Harpoon Therapeutics more than doubled on a report that Merck & Co was in advanced talks to buy the cancer drugmaker for around $700 million

Dell Technologies added 2.7% after J.P. Morgan upgraded the computer maker to "overweight" from "neutral". (Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)