U.S. stocks continue to rise as tech and energy sectors push up

U.S. stocks closed strong on Monday, driven by big tech and energy sector. Shares of AAPL, MSFT, GOOG, FB, and AMZN continued to rise before the earnings report. The five companies currently account for nearly 23% of the S&P 500 by market cap. They are also the main support for the recent market rally.

While oil prices were flat, the energy sector rose nearly 2.5% and was the top performer, with expectations for higher profits, lower debt and higher earnings in the second quarter. New home sales unexpectedly fell 6.6% in June to a 15-month low, with housing developers and building materials retailers generally lower.

Chinese-themed stocks continued to tumble, posting their biggest two-day drop since 2008, with education and technology stocks the weakest. UBS Wealth Management downgraded China's stock market to neutral, saying the strict regulatory would not end in the short term.

Bitcoin-related stocks surged sharply during the session and fell after the market hour. Before the market, some media said that AMZN was considering accepting bitcoin payments, but Amazon spokesperson denied the claim after the market.

As investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy and earnings reports from heavyweight companies, the market remained calm throughout the day with with slightly more gainers than losers.