TECHNOLOGYCloud services to play big role in Amazon and Microsoft earnings. Microsoft investors care most about its Azure cloud computing business, which last quarter grew 85 percent over the previous year and has become the leading competitor to Amazon’s web services. The booming cloud market is one of the big, high-margin businesses investors expect to see grow in Amazon’s earnings report on Thursday. Increasingly, Amazon’s cloud, advertising and subscription offerings have become big and profitable enough to offset Amazon’s investments in its resource-intensive retail business. But Mario Draghi, the central bank’s president, may give a more cautious assessment of the eurozone economy when he holds a news conference after the meeting.

Source: New York Times October 21, 2018 18:00 UTC