(Reuters) - The U.S. services sector growth slowed in March, according to an industry report released on Tuesday. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 57.3 last month. The index hit 59.7 in February, a five-year high.

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(Reuters) - China's central bank increased interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time since October, raising suspicions that data next week may show inflation rose more than expected in March. China's rate rise adds to six official increases in bank reserves since October and underlines Beijing's determination to clamp down on inflation, which leaders have declared as their most important task this year to keep the world's fastest growing major economy on track.

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(Reuters) - DuPont faces a tough task to convince shareholders of Danish group Danisco to accept its $6.4 billion offer, even after it cleared another hurdle by gaining European Union approval for the deal. The U.S. chemicals group said on Tuesday the European Commission had approved its tender offer for Danisco, the Danish food ingredients and enzymes maker, and it expected to close the transaction this month.

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(Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought information from Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) last year about the loan-loss reserves used to repurchase faulty home loans, company filings showed. In an exchange of letters, the SEC had also asked the bank to explain its methodology of establishing repurchase reserves.

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(Reuters) - Texas Instruments Inc is buying National Semiconductor Corp for $6.5 billion, paying a rich 78 percent premium to merge two of the industry's oldest firms into a dominant force in analog microchips used in products ranging from phones to cars. The deal, one of the industry's largest in years, sparked a rally in the shares of microchip makers from Nvidia Corp to Marvell Technology Group Ltd, of 2 and 3 percent on speculation of broader consolidation.

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(Reuters) - Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz is recalling 136,750 M-Class and M-Class AMG vehicles in the United States made from 1999 to 2004 for issues related to cruise control that may lead to a crash, U.S. federal safety regulators said. A filing with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that repairs will be made at Mercedes dealerships beginning in September.

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(Reuters) - Oil prices held near 2-1/2 year highs on Tuesday, with Brent crude topping $121 a barrel as unrest in oil exporting countries in the Middle East and Africa outweighed China's fourth interest rate hike since October. Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Libya remained stalled as clashes over the oil town of Brega continued while Western air strikes continued to target Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's military power.

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(Reuters) - Stocks rose on Monday, with the S&P 500 facing a level where selling has clustered in recent sessions. S&P 500 has traded in a tight range below 1,333. The benchmark has been unable to close above that level since mid-February, although the index briefly pierced it on Friday.

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(Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse won't make a decision on a higher bid for NYSE Euronext until the U.S. exchange's board reacts to last week's counter-offer from Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange, sources said. The German exchanges operator is also waiting to see how credit rating agencies score Nasdaq's move, two people familiar with Deutsche Boerse's (DB1Gn.DE) strategy said on Monday.

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(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said it struck a deal to sell its Capsugel unit, the world's largest maker of hard capsules, to private equity firm KKR & Co (KKR.N) for nearly $2.38 billion. Pfizer, which said in October it was exploring the sale of Capsugel, said it expects to make additional share repurchases this year as a result of the deal, beyond its previous plans for $5 billion in buybacks for 2011.

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