(Reuters) - Synthes (SYST.VX) said on Monday it was in takeover talks with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) after reports the U.S. group is looking to buy the Swiss medical device maker for about $20 billion. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters at the weekend the two sides were in preliminary talks.

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(Reuters) - Halliburton Co (HAL.N), the world's second-largest oilfield services company, posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings, lifted by a three-fold jump in profits at its key North American operations. Oil companies have increased spending on new projects to take advantage of high oil prices, which surged above $100 per barrel in late February and have remained strong due to turmoil in the Middle East and fears about the global economic recovery.

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(Reuters) - Community Health Systems Inc (CYH.N) is converting its $3.3 billion bid for Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC.N) to all cash, the hospital operator said, sweetening the offer after questions about its billing practices hit its shares. Community, whose shares fell 13 percent, said on Monday that it was bidding $6 a share in cash for Tenet. Its previous offer, which Tenet had rejected as too low, was for $5 a share in cash and $1 in Community Health stock.

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(Reuters) - Philips is hiving off its once leading television business, the first step by new chief executive Frans van Houten to boost flagging profit at Europe's biggest consumer electronics maker. Philips is moving its loss-making TV business to a 30/70 joint venture with Hong-Kong based monitor maker TPV and has the option to sell out. The Dutch group has struggled to compete with lower-cost Asian rivals Samsung and LG Electronics.

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(Reuters) - A Milan court cleared Citigroup, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley of market-rigging in a high-profile trial related to the 2003 collapse of food giant Parmalat. The four international banks had been charged for allegedly helping the Italian food group mislead investors at the time of the Parmalat scandal, dubbed Europe's Enron.

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(Reuters) - Global auto makers and their Chinese partners are rolling out dedicated local brands and targeting buyers in smaller towns and cities as growth in the world's largest auto market slows from its breakneck pace. Vehicle sales are anticipated to rise to 23 million units by 2015, up 27 percent from their level in 2010, a senior Chinese government official said on Monday in Shanghai, just ahead of the official opening of the Shanghai Auto Show.

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(Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than $2 a barrel on Monday to under $122 a barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia said it had cut output because it lacked buyers, and the dollar strengthened against the euro on eurozone debt fears. The kingdom reduced output by 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 8.292 million bpd in March from February, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Sunday, describing the market as "oversupplied.

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(Reuters) - Worries about higher inflation and signs of job market weakness prompted investors to sell stocks on Thursday. Government data showed weekly jobless claims rose unexpectedly, climbing back above 400,000, while U.S. core producer prices rose slightly faster than expected in March, pointing to increased inflation pressures.

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(Reuters) - Core producer prices rose slightly faster than expected in March from February, as motor vehicle prices jumped, and the core increase from a year ago was the largest since August 2009. The Labor Department said on Thursday its seasonally adjusted index for prices paid at the farm and factory gate -- excluding volatile food and energy costs -- rose 0.3 percent after gaining 0.2 percent in February. Economists had expected core PPI to rise 0.2 percent in March.

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(Reuters) - U.S. inflation is likely to climb higher than previously thought but the recovery will not stall as interest rates will be held down until early next year, according to the latest Reuters poll of economists. Expectations of growing demand for commodities have driven prices higher, while oil prices are not far from more than two year peaks reached on speculation that unrest in the Middle East could trigger further supply disruptions.

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