US markets gain for 3rd consecutive day post big M&A news

By Varinder Bansal, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

The US markets gained for third consecutive session on Tuesday after 4 days of losses helped by big M&A news. US dollar slipped for second day.
Microsoft is going to acquire Skype for USD 8.5 billion.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 76 points at 12,760. NASDAQ Composite was up 29 points at 2,872 and S&P 500 Index rose 11 points at 1,357.
US Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary was up 1.3%, Utilities gained 1.3%, Telecom went up 1.1% and Financials moved up 0.9%.
European markets gained post Greece denies report it is seeking new EU aid package: CAC was up 1.13%, DAX up 1.23% and FTSE up 1.28%.
CBOE VIX ended down 7.3% at 15.91, after surging 24.5% last week.
Asian markets opened in the green; Kospi was up 0.8%, Hang Seng up 0.7%, Nikkei up 0.65%, Taiwan up 0.5% and Straits Times up 0.45%. Shanghai was flat. Global economic news
Reports suggest that Chinese April CPI was up 5.1% after 5.4% in March while market expected 5.2% ((official data was not out yet))
China trade surplus was USD 11.4 billion, nearly four times higher than expected (calmed concerns about slowing growth)
US import prices rose 2.2% in April, following a 2.6% gain in March Currencies
Dollar Index was down 0.2% on Tuesday. it was down 0.4% a day ago.
Dollar fell 60 basis points versus Euro at 1.4421.
Yen lost 72 basis points versus USD at 80.9. Commodities
June crude oil went up 1.3% at USD 103.88/barrel - in spite of CME raising margins
June natural gas was up 2.2% at USD 4.24 per MMBtu.
Precious metals extended their bounce to a third consecutive session.
June gold contract was up 0.9% at USD 1516.3/ounce
July silver contract rose 3.7% at USD 38.49/ounce. Data to watch
China economic data
Weekly mortgage applications, international trade, oil inventories, earnings from Arcelor Mittal, Toyota, Cisco and Symantec