New York, Jul 23 (IANS): US stocks gained on Monday as Wall Street is anticipating more strong earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 17.70 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 27,171.90. The S&P 500 rose 8.42 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 2,985.03, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 57.65 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 8,204.14.

Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with technology climbing 1.22 per cent, outpacing the rest. Consumer staples shed 0.53 per cent, the worst-performing group.

Chipmaker stocks advanced broadly, contributing to the tech sector. Applied Materials soared 6.11 per cent, while Lam Research and Micron Technology closed up 4.4 per cent and 3.67 per cent, respectively.

A big wave of companies is expected to report earnings this week including Alphabet, Amazon and Boeing.

So far, more than 15 percent of the S&P 500 companies have posted quarterly results. Of those companies, 78.5 per cent have topped analysts' expectations for earnings while 67 per cent have reported better-than-expected quarterly revenues, according to CNBC, citing FactSet data.