THE NEWS WRAP: Alibaba continues heavy investment in US tech companies

Chinese internet retailer Alibaba, which is set to go public in New York in one of the largest public offerings ever in the United States, is investing huge sums of money in US tech companies, The New York Times reports.

In March the company invested $215 million in messaging app Tango, and it recently contacted Snapchat about making an investment that would value the company at $10 billion.

Alibaba has also participated in a $170 million bid for online sports memorabilia retailer Fanatics, and last week video-game startup Kabam announced that it has received $120 million investment from the online retail giant.

Share of users that sees ads on Twitter is shrinking

Buried in an online presentation accompanying Twitter’s earnings report last week was an unsettling trend, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Of the 271 million people counted in Twitter’s latest figures, 14%, or 37.9 million, never log in directly to Twitter’s website or mobile app, the only places where people see ads.

Amazon Appstore expands to 41 countries

The global reach of Amazon Appstore has increased to 236 countries and territories, after being made available in 41 additional countries, including Indonesia, Singapore and Turkey.

In a statement announcing the move, Amazon says the expansion represents an opportunity for Amazon developers to target new areas in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 69.93 to 16,493.37. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US93 cents.