US stocks closed higher on Tuesday as solid corporate earnings reports and economic data bolstered investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 139.41 points, or 1.10%, to finish at 12,584.17. The S&P 500 shed 12.22 points, or 0.91%, to close at 1,335.10. The Nasdaq Composite declined 13.51 points, or 0.48%, to 2,814.72.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) on Tuesday announced that it has agreed to acquire Skype Global S.a r.l for $8.5 billion in cash from the investor group led by Silver Lake. The company said that Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft shares dropped 16 cents, or 062%, to $25.67.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that search giant Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is supposedly entering the music cloud business. Google shares rose $4.98, or 0.93%, to $542.66.
Shares of Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) soared 17 cents, or 7.55%, to close at $2.35.
Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE: BSX) sank 69 cents, or 8.95%, to $7.02 Chief Executive Ray Elliot said that he will step down at the end of 2011.
On Tuesday, China's General Administration of Customs announced that China's monthly trade rose $11.43 billion surplus in April from $1.68 billion surplus recorded in the same month last year.
European stocks closed higher. The UK FTSE rose 76.20 points, or 1.28% to 6,018.89. The German DAX and French CAC increased 1.23% and 1.13% respectively.
Asian stocks finished higher. The Nikkei 225 rose 24.38 points, or 0.25%, to 9,818.76.
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