We present the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the starburst galaxy IC 342 .
Thirty-seven X-ray point sources were detected down to a luminosity limit of \sim 10 ^ { 37 } \hbox { erg } \thinspace \hbox { s } ^ { -1 } .
Most of the sources are located near the spiral arms .
The X-ray point source luminosity function is consistent with a power-law shape with a slope of 0.55 , typical of starburst galaxies .
We also present the energy spectra of several ultraluminous X-ray sources ( ULXs ) , including the luminous X-ray source in the galactic nucleus .
Except for the nucleus and a luminous supersoft X-ray source , other ULXs can generally be fit with a simple power-law spectral model .
The nucleus is very luminous ( \sim 10 ^ { 40 } \hbox { erg } \thinspace \hbox { s } ^ { -1 } in 0.2–12 keV ) and requires disc blackbody and power-law components to describe the X-ray emission .
The spectral fit reveals a cool accretion disc ( kT = 0.11 keV ) and suggests that the source harbours either an intermediate-mass black hole or a stellar-mass black hole with outflow .