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Futures up: Dow 0.13%, S&P 500 0.32%, Nasdaq 0.52%

July 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures climbed on

Monday as investors assessed the chances of a win by candidate

Donald Trump in the November elections after President Joe Biden

opted out of the race.

Biden announced he was exiting the race on Sunday, and

endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic ticket.

Megacap stocks were up premarket, with Meta Platforms ( META )

, Alphabet and Apple ( AAPL ) up between 0.5%

and 0.8%, boosting the Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures.

At 4:17 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 54 points, or

0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 18 points, or 0.32%, and

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 102.5 points, or 0.52%.

Shares of Trump-linked stocks such as Trump Media &

Technology Group ( DJT ) and software firm Phunware ( PHUN )

rose 2.8% and 1.4%, respectively.

Most U.S. Treasury yields, including the 10-year one

, were down as Biden ended his reelection campaign

after pressure from fellow Democrats who lost faith in his

mental acuity and ability to beat Trump.

Biden's exit from the presidential race could prompt

investors to unwind trades betting that a Republican victory

would increase U.S. fiscal and inflationary pressures, while

some analysts said markets could benefit from an increased

chance of divided government under the next administration.

"Donald Trump is still the solid favorite to win the

presidential election, but betting markets suggest he has a

slightly lower probability of beating Harris rather than Biden,"

said Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital

Economics.

"Harris will have a real chance to sell herself to the

American public in the second presidential debate, currently

scheduled for Sept. 10, although the Trump campaign could

withdraw, not wanting to go toe-to-toe with the ex-attorney."

Investors are bracing for high volatility this week, with a

deluge of quarterly earnings on deck, including from two of the

so-called Magnificent Seven - Google parent Alphabet

and Tesla - to gauge the sustainability of the recent

run-up in the top-tier high-momentum stocks.

Focus will also be on major data throughout the week

including Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index

data - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, durable

goods and second-quarter GDP for clues on the U.S. central

bank's monetary policy trajectory.

Traders have broadly priced in a 25-basis-point rate cut by

September and two cuts by the year-end, as per LSEG and CME's

FedWatch data.

Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 logged their steepest weekly

declines since mid-April, with investors rotating out of

expensive tech stocks to underperforming areas in the market,

helping the small-cap Russell 2000 index post its second

straight weekly gain.

Among other single movers, Nvidia ( NVDA ) rose 1.3% after

Reuters reported the AI chip leader is working on a version of

its new flagship AI chips for the China market that would be

compatible with current U.S. export controls.

Shares of Bank of America ( BAC ) lost 1.5% after Berkshire

Hathaway sold about 33.9 million shares of the lender for around

$1.48 billion over multiple transactions last week.