NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street's major averages finished higher on Tuesday as investors bet on further U.S. fiscal stimulus, while digesting a slew of earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 116.26 points, or 0.38 percent, to 30,930.52. The S&P 500 increased 30.66 points, or 0.81 percent, to 3,798.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 198.68 points, or 1.53 percent, to 13,197.18.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy up 2.08 percent, leading the gainers. Real estate slipped 0.54 percent, the worst-performing group.

U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded higher with all the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.

Janet Yellen, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for treasury secretary, on Tuesday urged U.S. Congress to pass a new COVID-19 relief package as the economic recovery is losing momentum amid surging coronavirus cases.

"Economists don't always agree, but I think there is a consensus now: Without further action, we risk a longer, more painful recession now - and long-term scarring of the economy later," Yellen said at her confirmation hearing virtually held by the Senate Finance Committee.

With interest rates at historic lows, Yellen urged lawmakers to "act big" with the COVID-19 relief package.

The United States has registered more than 24.1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases with related deaths exceeding 400,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, showed a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

On the earnings front, Goldman Sachs on Tuesday reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and revenue. However, its shares fell 2.26 percent.

Shares of Bank of America dipped 0.73 percent after the company posted quarterly revenue that fell short of expectations. Its earnings came in slightly ahead of estimates.

For the week ending Friday, the Dow fell 0.9 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both lost 1.5 percent, amid a slew of lackluster economic data.

The U.S. markets were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.