Shanghai share index closes at 14-week high

    SHANGHAI stocks climbed to a 14-week high on improved risk appetites after the U.S. Federal Reserve, while raising rates, dampened expectations of more aggressive tightening ahead.

    The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.5 percent to 3,481.51 points and the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to 3,268.94 points, its highest since early December. The Fed raised its benchmark policy rate 25 basis points, which had been factored into markets.

    Baidu fires head of group-buying arm

    BAIDU Inc. has fired Zeng Liang, head of its Nuomi group-buying division, citing violations of the search company’s ethics.

    Senior vice president Xiang Hailong will become head of Nuomi, a loss-making business that sells discounted Groupon-like products and services, after Zeng’s contract was terminated, Baidu said in a statement Thursday. Zeng had admitted committing the violations and compensated the company for any losses as a result, Beijing-based Baidu said.

    ZTE shares surge 10% after trading resumes

    TELECOM equipment maker ZTE Corp.’s Shenzhen-listed shares jumped 10 percent Thursday, resuming trading after a nine-day halt and catching up with gains in its Hong Kong shares that were sparked by the settlement of a U.S. sanctions case.

    ZTE said earlier this month that it had agreed to pay nearly US$900 million in the U.S. sanctions case and Tuesday said its chairman had resigned “in order to improve the company’s management by differentiating the role of chairman and president.”

    HNA pays US$960m for 4th land purchase in HK

    MAINLAND conglomerate HNA Group Co. snapped up a plot of residential land in Hong Kong for HK$7.44 billion (US$958.12 million), the fourth such purchase in five months in the city for the acquisitive group.

    HNA’s unit, Hong Kong International Construction Investment Management Group Co., won the bid for a 9,482-square-meter land in the Kai Tak area, translating to a floor price of around HK$145,316 per square meter, HNA said in a statement late Wednesday. HNA’s earlier land buys in Hong Kong have also been in the Kai Tak area. Mainland firms have been aggressively buying land in Hong Kong, gobbling up 29 percent of the land sold in 2015-2016.