PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - March 4

March 4 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* The total cash held by companies in the Standard and Poors' industrial index exceeded $600 billion in February, up from about $203 billion in 1998.

* Capping a relentless rise in recent years, oil prices hit a record high of $103.95 a barrel on Monday, then pulled back to close below the record.

* The Bush administration said mortgage companies were showing more willingness to relax loan terms for subprime borrowers in danger of losing their houses.

* The board of the automated teller, office and voting machines maker Diebold Inc (DBD.N) rejected an unsolicited $2.64 billion takeover bid from United Technologies Corp (UTX.N), a diversified manufacturer.

* The United States and the European Union are protesting China's requirement that foreign financial news services operate through a government-designated distributor.

* Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) moved closer to taking over Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), after the sports-car maker won approval from its supervisory board to raise its Volkswagen stake to more than 50 percent.

* Gazprom (GAZP.MM), the Russian natural gas company and the world's largest, cut about a quarter of the gas supply to Ukraine on Monday to force the country to settle a debt.

* In a new escalation of trade disputes with China, the Bush administration joined with the European Union on Monday in filing a suit at the World Trade Organization to protest China's requirement that foreign financial news services operate through a government-designated distributor. The action would affect Dow Jones, Reuters, Bloomberg and other foreign suppliers of stock prices and other financial information. (Compiled by Amulya Nagaraj; Bangalore Equities Newsdesk +91 80 4135 5800; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780))