U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, the last day of Donald Trump's presidency.

It was a fitting farewell as numerous records were set during the Trump era, many of them since the devastating pandemic which has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, and smashed the economy.

Halliburton shares, technology stock were in demand, as were leading banks, whose earnings have been beating estimations.

"The bank earnings are coming in better than expected and we see investors respond favorably to the numbers," Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research told Reuters Thomson Tuesday.

At the close of trading Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrials were ahead 116.26 points or 0.38 percent to 30,930.52.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 30.66 points or 0.81 percent to 3,798.91.

The Nasdaq Composite did best, climbing 198.68 points or 1.53 percent to 13,197.18.

The U.S. dollar was mixed, losing ground to the majors, but gaining a little against the commodity currencies.

The euro firmed to 1.2124 by the New York closeTuesday. The British pound advanced to 1.3628. The Japanese yen was a fraction stronger at 103.89, as was the Swiss franc at 0.8886.

The Canadian dollar inched down to 1.2735. The Australian dollar weakened to 0.7693. The New Zealand dollar softened to 0.7115.

On equity markets overseas, London's FTSE 100 slid 0.11 percent Tuesday. The German Dax dropped 0.24 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 gave up 0.33 percent.

On Asian markets, In Hong Kong, the coveted Hang Seng index soared 779.51 points or 2.70 percent to close at 29,642.28.

Japanese shares rebounded after two days of losses.

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 391.25 points or 1.39 percent to 28,633.46, while the broader Topix index gained 0.56 percent to 1,855.84.

"Investors are buying back shares which were sold out of concerns for overheat yesterday," Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager at investment research for SBI Securities Suzuki told Reuters Thomson Tuesday.

"Today's (Tuesday) rise represents the fundamental strength of the Japanese market. It is moving on its own without being influenced by the U.S. market, which was closed yesterday."

The Australian All Ordinaries added 79.60 points or 1.15 percent to 7,015.00.

Going against the trend, China's Shanghai Composite slipped 29.84 points or 0.83 percent to 3,566.38.

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