Stocks rose higher on Tuesday, rebounding from last week's losses, as investors looked towards upcoming policies and proposals under President-elect Joe Biden. Market sentiment has been turning positive towards bigger economic stimulus measures and faster vaccine distribution in the near term under the Biden administration.

On Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen appeared before the Senate Finance Committee, calling for bigger stimulus to help the economy recover and promote long-term growth and strength. Yellen backed Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package released last Thursday, which called for an array of long and short term relief measures.

"Neither the president-elect, nor I, propose this relief package without an appreciation for the country's debt burden," Yellen stated. "But right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest this we can do is act big. I believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time."

Here's how the market settled to start the shortened holiday week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.81% or +30.66 points to 3,798.91

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.38% or +116.26 points to 30,930.52

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +1.53% or +198.68 points to 13,197.18

For Stocks, GameStop (GME  ) rose over 10% on Tuesday, following a 100% advance last week as traders flock to the stock following increased video game sales and the addition of former Chewy (CHWY  ) CEO to its board. General Motors (GM  ) surged higher after announcing that Microsoft (MSFT  ) was investing in Crusie, the automaker's autonomous vehicle venture. Under the deal, Microsoft will be the preferred cloud provider for the autonomous project.

For Sector Performance, most sectors on the S&P 500 ended Tuesday's session higher, with only Real Estate (XLRE  ), Consumer Staples (XLP  ) and Utilities (XLU  ) slipping into negative territory. Energy (XLE  ) led gains by rising over 2% higher, and Communication Services (XLC  ) and Information Technology (XLK  ) increasing over 1%.

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) fell lower on Tuesday, with broader risk appetite increasing following remarks from Yellen supporting more major fiscal stimulus. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against other global currencies, slipped 0.3% to 90.531. Gold (GLD  ) prices kept recent gains as the dollar continued to decline, with the yellow metal benefitting from calls for more stimulus as investors view it as an inflation hedge. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,840.38 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures settled 0.6% higher at $1,840.20 per ounce. Crude oil futures climbed higher on Tuesday as investors were optimistic towards more global economic growth under Biden. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO  ) gained 2.1% to settled at $55.90 per barrel, while domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) rose 1.18% higher at $52.98 each.

For Wednesday, market participants will turn their attention to the inauguration of Joe Biden as president of the United States. The corporate earnings season also is now in full swing, with reports from Procter & Gamble (PG  ), UnitedHealth Group (UNH  ) and Morgan Stanley (MS  ) scheduled for release.