A drop in crude oil prices to a three-week low sent stocks higher for the second day on Wednesday, helped along by an upbeat assessment on the timetable for the recovery of the Gulf region devastated by Katrina.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.26, or 0.4 percent, to 10,633.50. On Tuesday, the Dow rose 141.87, its best one-day gain since July 8. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 2.97, or 0.2 percent, to 1,236.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5.17, or 0.2 percent, to 2,172.03.

Crude-oil futures fell in afternoon trading after the Department of Energy said in its monthly energy outlook that U.S. oil and natural-gas production shuttered by the storm is likely to return to full capacity by the end of the year. A barrel of light crude settled at $64.25, down $1.59, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The department also said U.S. retail gasoline prices are expected to fall to around $2.58 a gallon in the fourth quarter.

Among local movers, shares of Diagnostic Products Corp. edged up 2.6 percent to $56.46 after the L.A.-based maker of machines and test kits to detect diseases said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted its ban on reviewing new product applications from the company. The ban had been imposed in December 2003 while the FDA reviewed reported problems with the company’s clinical trial and data collection procedures.

Global ePoint Inc. rose 2 percent to $4.64 and traded as high as $4.74 after the City of Industry-based maker and seller of computer products said it received an additional $3 million desktop computer and laptop order from Avatar Technologies for a major Mexican retailer.

On the down side, share of Korn/Ferry International fell 6.8 percent to $18.27 after the world’s largest executive recruiting firm posted higher quarterly earnings but said it expects second-quarter earnings of 22 cents a share to 27 cents a share on revenues of $118 million to $124 million. The average analyst estimate was 27 cents a share on revenues of $132.2 million.

Pacific Energy Partners LP lost 4.2 percent to $31.81 after the Long Beach-based crude oil distributor said late Tuesday that it plans to sell nearly 4.56 million common units under an effective shelf registration. The company plans to use proceeds from the sale to fund part of the purchase of pipeline and terminal assets from Valero L.P.