U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting record highs, bolstered by a batch of better-than-expected corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 100.26 points, or 0.47 percent, to 21,613.43. The S&P 500 rose 7.17 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,477.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index ticked up 1.37 points, or 0.02 percent, to 6,412.17.

Caterpillar reported second-quarter earnings and revenue on Tuesday that topped Wall Street's expectations, sending shares more than five percent higher.

The company announced quarterly sales and revenues of 11.3 billion U.S. dollars, and quarterly profit per share was 1.35 dollars.

After Monday's closing bell, Google-parent Alphabet reported strong financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2017.

Shares of McDonald's also climbed on Tuesday after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

This earnings season has been strong so far and pushed the major indices notched record highs recently.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the second quarter of 2017 are expected to rise 9.1 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Wall Street also kept a close eye on a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that kicked off on Tuesday.

Traders have been widely expected the central bank will leave interest rate unchanged this time. Market expectations for a rate hike were just 3.1 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.