US STOCKS-Wall St opens higher ahead of Yellen speech; spotlight on earnings

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* Yellen's speech begins at 10 a.m. ET
* Bank of America, Goldman Sachs rise on profit beat
* Halliburton up after higher sequential profit
* Indexes up: Dow 0.74%, S&P 0.79%, Nasdaq 1.03%

(Updates to market open)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
Jan 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on
Tuesday after upbeat earnings from big U.S. banks and
Halliburton, while investors awaited a speech from U.S. Treasury
Secretary nominee Janet Yellen that is expected to advocate
hefty fiscal spending.
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N added 1.6% as its
fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, dwarfing estimates
after another blowout performance at its trading and
underwriting business. Bank of America BAC.N also topped fourth-quarter profit
estimates and joined JPMorgan JPM.N , Citigroup Inc C.N and
Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N in releasing some cash reserves to
cover for coronavirus-driven loan losses, underscoring its
confidence in the economy. Its shares, however, dropped 1.2% after a sharp climb over
the last two weeks. The S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK rose 0.6%.
"The bank earnings is coming in better than expected and we
see investors respond favorably to the numbers," said Sam
Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are likely to decline 7.8% in
the fourth quarter of 2020 from a year ago, but are expected to
rebound in 2021, with a gain of 16.7% forecast for the first
quarter, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Wall Street's main indexes dropped on Friday as investors
booked profits after a recent rally to record highs on hopes of
a speedy economic recovery fueled by a hefty fiscal stimulus
package and vaccine distribution.
Yellen is set to testify to the Senate Finance Committee,
starting at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), that the government must "act
big" with its next coronavirus aid plan. President-elect Joe Biden, who will be sworn into office on
Wednesday, outlined a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal
last week to jump-start the economy.
"Yellen did encourage that the U.S. should act on this
coronavirus relief bill. It seems it's the kind of package that
Wall Street is concluding will likely to pass both houses of the
Congress and therefore be put in to work pretty quickly,"
Stovall added.
Eight of 11 S&P sectors advanced in early trading with
technology .SPLRCT providing the biggest boost to the
benchmark S&P 500. Defensive utilities .SPLRCU , consumer
staples .SPLRCS and real estate .SPLRCR sectors were in the
red.
At 9:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 227.19 points, or 0.74%, to 31,041.45, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 29.87 points, or 0.79%, to 3,798.12 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC gained 133.96 points, or 1.03%, to 13,132.46.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O gained 1.6% after Jefferies raised its
earnings estimates ahead of the electric-car makers'
fourth-quarter results next week.
Boeing Co BA.N added 1.5% as Canada said it would lift a
near two-year flight ban on its 737 MAX following two fatal
crashes involving the model while a final clearance from Europe
to resume flying the jet is expected next week.
Halliburton Co HAL.N rose 2.7% after it posted a
better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, buoyed by cost cuts
and a recovery in demand for oilfield equipment and services
after last year's industry slump. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.7-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 4.7-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 184 new highs and three new lows.