New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks gained for the second straight day on Thursday as technology firms’ positive earnings reports beat concerns on crises in Japan and Libya.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85 points or 0.5 percent to 12,171 with Hewlett-Packard Co. as the top gainer.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index recovered lost ground since the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan increasing 12 points or 0.9 percent to 1,310. Linux vendor Red Hat was the top gainer after reporting high earnings and raising its profit forecast. Other gainers were semiconductor maker Micron Technologies and chipmaker Nvidia.

The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 38 points or 1.4 percent to 2,736.

Crude oil futures settled at $105.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The oil for May delivery was 59 cents or 0.6 percent lower.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $3.10 or 0.2 percent to $1,440 an ounce.

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