UBS to boost Asia-Pac IB headcount by 20 pct in 2011

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX), the leader in equity underwriting in the Asia Pacific region, plans to double its China staff in three to four years and boost its investment banking head count in the region by 20 percent this year, two top officials said on Thursday.

UBS is betting on continued strong equity issuances in the region, led by Chinese companies. The pipeline of initial public offerings (IPOs) is stronger than last year this time, Matthew Hanning, head of investment banking (IB) for Asia Pacific, told Reuters in an interview.

Analysis: Asia braces for its date with demographic destiny

(Reuters) - If demography is destiny, as the French philosopher Auguste Comte put it, then Asia faces daunting challenges in the coming decades.

Markets understandably track the rate and composition of gross domestic product to gauge short-term economic shifts.

But it is changes to the underlying productive capacity of an economy that count in the long run. Swing factors include openness to outside capital and ideas as well as the quality of education and governance.

UPS Joins FedEx in Adding Asia Flights as Economic Recovery Stokes Demand

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) is adding four flights a week from Hong Kong to Europe and FedEx Corp. (FDX) will start a new nonstop route to South Korea as growth in Asian shipping demand outpaces expansion in the U.S.

Asia is “a growth market and they need to keep adding capacity and speed,” said David Campbell, an analyst with Thompson Davis & Co., in Richmond, Virginia. “If they have more direct service, they’re going to get more traffic because it’s easier for the customers there to use them.”

India Sensex Has Biggest Weekly Jump in 20 Months; Infosys Leads

Indian stocks rallied, with the benchmark index posting its biggest weekly gain in 20 months, as speculation that global economic recovery will be sustained spurred gains in equities across Asia. Software makers jumped.

Infosys Technologies Ltd., the nation’s second-largest software-services provider, climbed 5.3 percent, the most since July 2009. Asian stocks increased, tracking a rally in U.S. equities, after U.S. initial jobless claims data signaled the labor market in the largest economy is mending. Wipro Ltd., the third-biggest, advanced 3.7 percent. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the largest, added 2.4 percent.

Global growth tipped to fuel resources rise

Asia's economic pace has been moderating after a sharp rebound from the global financial crisis, said the World Bank this week.

However, the bank said, "over the medium term, East Asia has the potential to sustain rapid increases in living standards, even as the global economy enters a more challenging phase".

China inflation looms large for mining

Global miners and smelters face difficult times after two years of easy growth, as a battle against inflation by Asia's economic powerhouses holds back demand, though Japan's reconstruction after its disastrous earthquake could bring a mild lift.

China, the engine of global growth in demand for industrial metals, is the major concern shared by giants such as BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) BHP.L and Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) (RIO.L), as well as thousands of junior miners.

World Bank tells East Asia to tighten

Speaking at a forum in Singapore, the country's Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Japan's nuclear crisis could hurt consumer and business confidence.

"Confidence is affected in a different way from a one-off natural disaster," said Tharman, tipped to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund's International Monetary and Financial Committee.