A sharp drop in oil prices helped Wall Street extend its rally for a third straight session Thursday, with strong earnings from Hewlett-Packard Co. also giving stocks a modest lift, the Associated Press reports.

Higher U.S. energy stockpiles and the continued cooling of Middle East tensions fueled the drop in crude futures, which in turn gave investors encouragement. A barrel of light crude settled at $70.06, down $1.83, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.84, or 0.07 percent, to 11,334.96. The Dow gained nearly 229 points in the previous two sessions. Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 2.05, or 0.16 percent, to 1,297.48, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 8.07, or 0.38 percent, to 2,157.61. Including Monday’s modest gains, Thursday marked the first four-day stretch of gains for the two indexes since March.

Read the full Associated Press story

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Today’s Winners & Losers

Cogent Inc. added 13.4 percent to close at $13.82 while Earl Scheib Inc. added 10.6 percent to close at $3.98 and Salem Communications Corp. added 6.1 percent to finish the day at $11.47.

On the down side were National Mercantile Bancorp, which lost 6.3 percent to close at $11.40 along with Unico American Corp., which lost 4 percent to close at $10.50 and Hi-Shear Technology, which lost 3.5 percent and closed at $9.66.