Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba will report its quarterly earnings on Tuesday, with investors keen to see how a company that acts as a barometer for the mood of consumers in the world's second-largest economy performed. For the March quarter this year, analysts, on average, expect the company to earn $1.41 per share on revenue of $30.42bn (£24.28bn). This compares to the last year’s $1.50 per share and $29.15bn. Alibaba’s Taobao online shopping and Tmall B2C online retail platforms may have seen a strong sequential increase in gross merchandise value. Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: European stocks mixed as UK business output and wages rise The platform has lowered costs as Chinese consumers seek discounts and lower-cost shopping but analysts are concerned this risks hitting margins. It is also facing increasing competition from low-cost platforms, such as PDD Holding's (PDD) Pinduoduo and ByteDance-owned Douyin, Reuters reported. Bitcoin is struggling to gain momentum as the global cryptocurrency market cap decreased by 1.1% to approximately $2.23tn overnight The cryptocurrency was trading at around $62,504 on Monday and struggled to make any significant gains after it surged on the back of the approval of US exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Read more: Stocks that are trending...