Stocks rose on Tuesday as traders entered one of the busiest weeks of the earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared nearly 500 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite rose 1.6% and 2.2%, respectively.

Tuesday's earnings reports boosted market sentiment, with Dow-component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ  ) rising 3% after its earnings per share topped expectations. Traders also looked ahead to earnings reports from heavy-hitters like Netflix (NFLX  ) and IBM (IBM  ) after closing bell.

Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +1.61% or +70.52 points to 4,462.21

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +1.45% or +499.51 points to 34,911.20

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +2.15% or +287.30 points to 13,619.66

Uber, Lyft drop mask mandate for drivers, passengers:

Uber (UBER  ) and Lyft (LYFT  ) said Tuesday that riders and drivers will no longer be required to wear masks, following a federal judge ruling in Florida that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had exceeded its authority to require mask on public transit.

"As of April 19, 2022, riders and drivers are not required to wear masks when using Uber," the company said in updated safety guidance on its website. "However, the CDC still recommends wearing a mask if you have certain personal risk factors and/or high transmission levels in your ares."

Lyft issued a similar statement, adding: "We know that everyone has different comfort levels, and anyone who wants to continue wearing a mask is encouraged to do so. As always, drivers and riders can decline to accept or cancel any ride they don't wish to take."

IMF downgrades global GDP projections due to Russia-Ukraine war:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the global economic recovery will "slow significantly" this year due to sanctions raised following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The IMF downgraded growth projections for Eastern European countries and warned of international impacts due to the disruption of commodities markets. The IMF now expects global GDP to rise 3.6% in 2022--a downgrade from January's projection of 4.4%--and 3.6% in 2023--a downgraded from the last projection of 3.8%.

Housing starts unexpectedly rose in March:

U.S. homebuilding activity unexpectedly rose in March, but building starts for single-family homes fell due to rising mortgage rates.

Housing starts increased by 0.3% in March to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.793 million units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's latest report published Tuesday. This followed an upwardly revised rate of 1.788 million units in February. Single-family housing starts, which account for the biggest share of homebuilding, fell 1.7% to a rate of 1.2 million units in March.

Meanwhile, permits for future homebuilding increased 0.4% to a rate of 1.873 million units last month.

Here's how benchmarks started trading soon after market open:

S&P 500 Index: +0.08% or +3.54 points to 4,395.23

Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.27% or +92.77 points to 34,504.46

Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.14% or -18.72 points to 13,332.36