  We report on the first deeper X-ray broad-band observation of the hot spot
galaxy NGC 2903 obtained with XMM-Newton. X-ray imaging and spectra of the
spiral barred galaxy were obtained from XMM-Newton archival data to study its
X-ray population and the conditions of the hot gas in its central region. We
investigate the spectral properties of the discrete point-source population and
give estimates of their X-ray spectral parameters. By analysing the RGS
spectra, we derive temperature and abundances for the hot gas located in its
central region. A total of six X-ray point sources (four of them ULX
candidates) were detected in the energy range of 0.3-10.0 keV located within
the galaxy D25 optical disk. Three of these sources are detected for the first
time, and one of them with a luminosity of higher than 10^39 erg/s. After
fitting three different models, we were able to estimate their luminosities,
which are compatible with those of binaries with a compact object in the form
of black holes (BHs) rather than neutron stars (NSs). We extracted the combined
first-order RGS1 and RGS2 spectra of its central region, which display several
emission lines. Both O\,{\sc vii} $f$ and $r$ lines seem to be of similar
strength, which is consistent with the presence of the collisionally ionized
gas that is typical of starburst galaxies. We fitted the spectrum to a model
for a plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE) and the continuum was
modelled with a power law, resulting in a plasma temperature of T = 0.31 \pm
0.01 keV and an emission measure EM \equiv n_Hn_eV =6.4_{-0.4}^{+0.5}\times
10^{61}$~cm$^{-3}. We also estimated abundances that are consistent with solar
values.
