Welcome to the latest edition of top stock market highlights. Alibaba Group (SEHK: 9988) Alibaba surprised the market this week when it announced that the company will be split into six units that will individually raise funds and explore separate IPOs. The breakup into smaller units operating with autonomy helps to pave the way for spinoffs to realise value for shareholders. This split may also address the Chinese government’s push to decentralise Alibaba’s business lines and decision-making power. The move comes around 21 months after the government clamped down on ride-hailing app Didi and suspended the IPO of Ant Group, the fintech division of Alibaba. The announcement on Monday evening saw the American depository shares of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) climb 20% from US$86.12 to close at US$103.38. Jack Ma, Alibaba’s billionaire co-founder, also returned to China this week after spending more than a year abroad. The six divisions that will be formed as part of the overhaul include cloud intelligence, global digital...