NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major stock indexes hit session highs on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus before Congress and data on new-home sales and consumer confidence was better than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 125.16 points or 0.91 percent, to 13,909.33, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 10.51 points or 0.71 percent, to 1,498.36 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 18.92 points or 0.61 percent, to 3,135.17.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)