The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100.24 points, or 0.28 percent, to 35,559.53. The S&P 500 added 6.73 points, or 0.15 percent, to 4,588.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 29.37 points, or 0.21 percent, to 14,346.02.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy and real estate leading the gainers by rising 2.00 percent and 0.70 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, health and consumer staples led the laggards by losing 0.79 percent and 0.46 percent, respectively.
U.S. stocks finished July's last trading session higher, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logging a fifth month in green, while Wall Street kicked off a busy earnings week as traders refrained from making big bets amid concern over an overheated market.
Investors are now waiting for Thursday's reports from Apple and Amazon while the earnings season is more than halfway through. With over half of S&P 500 companies having reported results, 64 percent delivered a positive revenue surprise, according to FactSet data.
"If they (Apple and Amazon) give really good guidance, we could see this bull market really continue to pick up speed and even see some momentum heading into the fall," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, in an interview with CNBC.
Other analysts, however, believe that the current bull market may be unsustainable. "Investors need to be careful about trying to squeeze every last penny out of this rally in the stock market over the coming days and weeks given that many of the best stocks are quite expensive," said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co, in an interview with Bloomberg.
Along with Thursday's big tech earnings, investors remain focused on Friday's nonfarm payrolls report.
Many traders wouldn't do much positioning until the nonfarm payrolls report, which should show the labor market remains tight. "The key for the payroll report might be what is happening with wages, as it seems fears of an acceleration of inflation have been downsized," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Meanwhile, investors were digesting the Federal Reserve's Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey released on Monday, which reported tighter standards and weaker demand for commercial and industrial loans over the second quarter, indicating that the Fed's tightening cycle is clearly impacting the economy.
Wall Street was not really surprised as the lag from the Fed tightening is supposed to take several months before business notice significant tightening of credit conditions, according to Moya.
"The dollar softened following the release as the survey supports the narrative that the economy will steadily weaken and that should support rate cut bets for early next year," he said.
Latest comments