Stocks Rally for Second Day; Microsoft Gains

U.S. stocks climbed for a second straight session on Tuesday, after comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin calmed worries that tensions over Ukraine could escalate. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 88.97 points, or 0.55%, to end at 16,336.19. The S&P 500 gained 13.42 points, or 0.72%, to finish at 1,872.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 53.36 points, or 1.25%, to close at 4,333.31.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares reached their highest point in nearly 14 years Tuesday, closing up 3.9% at $39.55. The jump followed reports that Microsoft will soon make a version of its Office software suite available for use on Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPads.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) on Tuesday reported a fiscal third-quarter profit of $2.57 billion, or 56 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.5 billion, or 52 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $9.31 billion from $8.96 billion. Adjusted profit was 68 cents a share.