Boeing's Problems Rattle Dow: What it Means for the Stock Market

The Dow Jones is set to open lower on Monday due to troubles with Boeing, and there's uncertainty about interest-rate changes affecting other major U.S. stock indexes.

Boeing is in a bit of a slump, down 6.2% before the market even opens. This drop comes after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told them to ground some of their 737 MAX 9 jets. This decision came after a piece fell off one of their planes operated by Alaska Air Group mid-flight on Friday. If this trend continues, Boeing could lose about $12.5 billion.

The trouble doesn't just stop with Boeing. Alaska Air Group had to cancel more than 200 flights because of the FAA's order. Other airlines like JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines are also feeling the heat, with their stock prices dropping between 0.5% and 1.9%.

Last week, the S&P 500, which shows how well big U.S. companies are doing, had its worst week since October. People are getting a bit worried, and they're not as sure about when the U.S. government will change interest rates.

There's also been some mixed news about how many jobs are out there and how the services sector is doing. All this is making things a bit confusing for investors.

Later today, we're waiting to hear from Raphael Bostic, who's part of a group that decides on U.S. interest rates. His thoughts on what the government should do will be something people will pay attention to. Over the weekend, another person, Lorie Logan, said the government might need to start increasing interest rates again.

People who bet on what the government will do now think there's a 61% chance that interest rates will go down a bit in March. A few weeks ago, it was more than 85%, according to a tool that looks at these bets.

Investors are also curious about reports on how prices are changing, and they want to hear from different government officials about what's going on.

Before the market opens at 8:21 a.m., Dow e-minis (kind of like practice stocks) were down by 122 points, which is about 0.32%. S&P 500 e-minis were up a tiny bit, about 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up by 24 points, or 0.15%.

Energy companies like Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, and Marathon Oil are also seeing a bit of a dip, around 1%, because the prices of oil have gone down by more than 3%.

Big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Bank of America are mixed, with some going a bit down and one going up. These banks will be the first to share how much money they made in the last few months, and people are hoping they made a good profit.

There's also some good news in the market. A company called Harpoon Therapeutics saw its value more than double because reports are saying that another big company, Merck & Co, might buy it for around $700 million. Dell Technologies, a computer company, went up by 2.7% after J.P. Morgan said they're doing well and upgraded them to "overweight."

Also Read: Global Market Update: Inflation Worries and Earnings Season Impact