(Reuters) - Top retailers posted stronger-than-expected sales gains for February, a show of strength that could dissipate in March as a late Easter and rising gasoline prices take their toll. The chains reported a rise of 4.2 percent in sales at stores open at least a year, according to Thomson Reuters data. Analysts had expected the Thomson Reuters index of 25 retailers to show a 3.6 percent rise in same-store sales last month.

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(Reuters) - The services sector grew at a slightly faster pace in February, notching up another more than five-year high, according to an industry report released on Thursday. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national non-manufacturing activity rose to 59.7 from 59.4 in January. The reading came in just above forecasts for 59.5.

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(Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWSA.O) took a huge step toward securing its prized $14 billion buyout of BSkyB (BSY.L) on Thursday when Britain accepted its proposals to alleviate competition concerns. The move will allow News Corp to avoid a prolonged investigation and start negotiating the terms of the deal, its most important and politically charged in Britain for decades. Murdoch's proposal, to spin off a chunk of his flagship Sky News channel, shows his desire to do a quick deal, analysts said.

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(Reuters) - BP (BP.L) will not pay bonuses for 2010 to the top executives whose divisions were involved in the worst-ever oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, the company said in an annual report dominated by the disaster. Current chief executive Bob Dudley, former chief executive Tony Hayward and former exploration and production head Andy Inglis all missed out on cash performance bonuses which for Hayward totaled over 2 million pounds ($3.25 million) in 2009.

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(Reuters) - Yujiapu does not roll off the tongue like Wall Street, but planners in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin hope it soon will. Round-the-clock construction is transforming muddy ground into what officials boast will be the world's largest financial zone a decade from now. It's a monument to the ambitions driving China's economic growth and to the sort of risks leaders in Beijing see piling up alongside the country's new skyscrapers.

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(Reuters) - Core earnings from producing and trading metals and agricultural products more than doubled last year at Glencore GLEN.UL, the annual report of the world's largest commodities trader showed. Glencore made no mention of its potential multi-billion dollar initial public offering (IPO). But it touted a "very healthy" return on the notional equity employed in its marketing operations, which transport metals, oils and grains around the globe.

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(Reuters) - Stocks were slightly higher on Wednesday as strong labor market data offset the impact of continued high oil prices. Private employers added 217,000 jobs in February, according to the ADP Employer Services report, far more than forecast, in what could be a positive sign for Friday's non-farm payrolls data. There has been little correlation between the two reports in recent months.

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(Reuters) - Billionaire Warren Buffett said the U.S. economy is "coming back" and does not need more stimulus, despite an uneven recovery that mirrors the fortunes of businesses at his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Buffett also said he remains on the prowl for a big acquisition, having lost a sizable one in the last day or two, but that there is not a "high probability" of one soon. Speaking on CNBC television, Buffett maintained his "enormous respect" for the efforts of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to move the economy forward.

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(Reuters) - Securities regulators were poised on Wednesday to propose a clampdown on bonus pay for Wall Street executives and to wean money market mutual funds off their reliance on credit ratings. In a packed agenda, the Securities and Exchange Commission was also expected to propose new governance rules for clearinghouses and to reopen the public comment period on a contentious proposal that aims to limit the control banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co wield in derivatives clearing and trading venues.

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(Reuters) - February sales at Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc (BJ.N) surpassed Wall Street's expectations, driven by higher gasoline prices and shoppers' focus on bargains. BJ's, which is considering selling the company, also reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, while Costco's profit met Wall Street's expectations. Costco, the top U.S. warehouse club operator, said February sales at stores open at least a year rose 8 percent, while analysts were looking for a 7 percent increase, according to Thomson Reuters data.

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