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By Elviira Luoma and Louise Rasmussen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Jewellery maker Pandora's CEO Alexander Lacik will retire next March after nearly seven years in charge and be succeeded by marketing chief Berta de Pablos-Barbier, the company said on Tuesday in an earlier than expected move. Pandora's share price fell 2% by 0931 GMT following the announcement and are down 37% year-to-date as the Danish company struggles with weak European sales, rising commodity prices and U.S. import tariffs. De Pablos-Barbier, formerly CEO of LVMH's champagne brand Moet & Chandon, was hired in November last year as a potential future leader of the group, and was the strongest candidate for CEO, Pandora said in a statement. Investors had not expected her to take the helm so soon. De Pablos-Barbier said she would continue Lacik's long-term strategy of building the company beyond its traditional focus on bracelets to make it a full jewellery brand. "We have to stay true to what Pandora is. Pandora is an accessible luxury brand," de Pablos-Barbier told Reuters. WEAK EUROPEAN DEMAND Lacik's departure is the latest in a series of CEO exits this year at European retail and consumer brands, which included Francois-Henri Pinault at Gucci owner Kering, Laurent Freixe at Nestle and Debra Crew at Diageo. De Pablos-Barbier has enjoyed a 30-year career in luxury and consumer goods. Other companies she has worked at include Mars Wrigley, Lacoste and jeweller Boucheron. "She is the right person to lead our continued growth, and I am pleased that we can maintain strategic focus and momentum during this smooth and orderly leadership transition," Pandora Chair Peter Ruzicka said. Pandora's share price tripled during Lacik's tenure as CEO, which began in 2019. After a dip in sales during the pandemic, the group's revenue recovered sharply but growth has been hit this year by weak demand in Europe and the impact on costs of new U.S. tariffs. The group announced in 2021 that it would stop selling mined diamonds, opting instead for lab-made versions to attract younger shoppers with less expensive stones guaranteed not to have come from conflict zones. (Reporting by Elviira Luoma and Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Kate Mayberry and Susan Fenton)

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By Enes Tunagur LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Tuesday ahead of another anticipated production increase by OPEC+ and as the resumption of oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region via Turkey reinforced market expectations of a supply surplus. Brent crude futures for November delivery, expiring on Tuesday, fell 53 cents, or 0.8%, to $67.44 a barrel by 1026 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $62.83 a barrel, down 62 cents, or 1%. The drops extend Monday's falls when both Brent and WTI settled more than 3% lower, their sharpest daily declines since August 1. Selling pressure intensified as OPEC+ sources hinted at another output hike, after prices declined following the resumption of Iraq's Kurdistan region's crude oil exports via Turkey, PVM analyst Tamas Varga said. In a meeting scheduled for Sunday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, will likely approve another oil production increase of at least 137,000 barrels per day, three sources familiar with the talks said. "Although (OPEC+ is) under their quota anyway, the market still does not seem to like the fact that more oil is coming in," Marex analyst Ed Meir said. Meanwhile, crude oil flowed on Saturday through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey for the first time in 2-1/2 years, after an interim deal broke a deadlock, Iraq's oil ministry said. The market has remained cautious in recent weeks, balancing supply risks, mainly arising from Ukraine's drone attacks on Russian refineries, with expectations of oversupply and weak demand. Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump won Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's support for a U.S.-backed Gaza peace proposal, but the stance of Hamas was uncertain. In an ideal scenario, shipping traffic through the Suez Canal would return to normal following a Gaza peace deal, which would remove a significant portion of the geopolitical risk premium, PVM's Varga said. Adding to the bearish sentiment, the potential risk of a U.S. government shutdown has raised demand concerns, said ANZ analysts in a note on Tuesday. (Reporting by Enes Tunagur in London, Anjana Anil in Bengaluru and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Christian Schmollinger, Barbara Lewis and Jan Harvey)

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By Davide Barbuscia, Saeed Azhar and Anirban Sen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Two auto sector bankruptcies have rattled parts of the U.S. credit market, raising concerns about a deterioration in the financial health of low-income households and migrant communities. Auto-parts maker First Brands became the latest company to unravel, filing for bankruptcy protection on Monday, following the recent bankruptcy of subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings. While both companies had idiosyncratic reasons for their collapse, they have stoked fears of broader stress. "As far as I can tell, the market appears concerned," said Campe Goodman, a fixed income portfolio manager at Wellington Management, who said spreads on asset-backed securities (ABS) for some consumer lenders had widened significantly. ABS allow auto lenders to package loans into tradable bonds, providing them with cash and transferring credit risk to investors.  "There are some issues that are specific to each of these two companies…that said, a lot of times these things happen in an environment where things are changing," said Goodman. He pointed to a weakening in consumer health and policy changes that impact low-income segments of the population, such as changing immigration rules. First Brands struggled after a failed effort to refinance its debt earlier this year, which stalled when investors asked for a closer look at its books, according to two sources familiar with the matter. One of the people familiar with the matter said First Brands' problems were exacerbated by the impact of tariffs on its business. The collapse comes on the heels of subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings’ bankruptcy. Tricolor's court-appointed trustee did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours. Steve Edwards, senior investment strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, said while credit markets continued to look at these instances as company-specific issues, they may reveal underlying weakness in certain segments of the consumer market. Lower-income consumers have been impacted by high interest rates, mounting labor market weakness and tariffs, he said. "In this context, defaults on loans for lower-income consumers should not be very surprising," he said. SIGNS OF STRESS  Signs of strain are emerging in U.S. credit markets tied to auto debt. Spreads on the ICE BofA AA-BBB US Fixed Rate Automobile ABS Index – a measure of the extra yield investors demand over Treasuries to hold those bonds – have widened by more than 20 basis points this month.  Still, the broader U.S. corporate credit market — both investment grade and high yield — remain stable, with dealmaking seeing a notable uptick following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut. The ICE BofA U.S. Corporate Index, a benchmark for investment-grade bonds, shows spreads have narrowed by six basis points since early September. Even riskier high-yield debt has tightened, with spreads down about 10 basis points. A sign of robust credit market is the latest leveraged buyout of videogame developer Electronic Arts, which has agreed to sell itself to a group of private investors in a deal that values the maker of "Battlefield" and "Madden NFL" at $55 billion. One Wall Street banker said there was a tale of two different economies where the richer are benefiting from home equity gains and stockmarket gains, while some of those on low incomes were under strain. SUBPRIME STRESS Auto loans are a segment of the consumer finance market that has been seeing recent stress. Rikard Bandebo, chief economist at VantageScore, which develops credit scoring models, said his firm has seen delinquency rates for auto loans continue to rise to historic highs. "Lower-income households continue to have higher delinquency rates, but their delinquency rates have stabilized over the past year and a half, while delinquency rates at middle- and higher-income households are increasing," Bandebo said.  Analysts said that companies such as Tricolor, with operations in six states, were exposed to trends hitting lower income workers. Tricolor sold cars and provided auto loans mostly to low-income Hispanic communities in the Southwestern United States, saying it saw an opportunity to serve "invisible" workers with no access to bank accounts or other forms of credit. Analysts said the low-income auto market has been hurt by affordability, as second-hand car prices soared in the aftermath of the pandemic and so did borrowing costs.  "Subprime consumers disproportionally finance used vehicles, where values remain stubbornly high following pandemic related disruptions," said Satyan Merchant, senior vice president, automotive and mortgage business leader at consumer credit firm TransUnion. "Beyond vehicle payments, insurance and maintenance costs have also surged faster than general inflation, placing additional strain on lower-income households with limited disposable income." (Reporting by Davide Barbuscia, Saeed Azhar and Anirban Sen; editing by Megan Davies and Sam Holmes)

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By Tim Reid, Courtney Rozen, Valerie Volcovici and Leah Douglas WASHINGTON (Reuters) -More than 150,000 federal employees will leave the U.S. government payroll this week after accepting buyouts – the largest single-year exodus of civil servants in nearly 80 years, triggering what unions and governance experts warn is a damaging loss of institutional expertise. The official resignations begin on Tuesday for workers who opted into a deferred exit program that kept them on the payroll through September. The buyouts are a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s push to shrink the federal workforce, combining financial incentives with threats of dismissal for those who declined the offer. Many left their agencies months ago, according to the federal government's HR office, and have effectively been on paid leave. Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said the biggest impact of this week's exodus will be the brain drain of so many experienced civil servants, a loss of talent he says will be hard to reverse. "It takes years to develop deep knowledge and expertise to deliver government programs these people run. Now much of the knowledge is walking out the door," Moynihan said. The loss of expertise is making it harder for many agencies to carry out their work and serve the American public, according to interviews with a dozen current and former government employees and union officials. The buyouts have adversely impacted a wide range of government activities, including weather forecasting, food safety, health programs and space projects, according to the people who spoke to Reuters. At the National Weather Service, nearly 200 people took buyouts, causing a loss of technical staff who maintain forecasting equipment and many experienced meteorologists. "It has caused massive disruption in offices throughout the country," said Tom Fahy, legislative director of the National Weather Service Employees Organization. Jasmine Blackwell, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the weather service, said jobs were being offered as needed "to ensure both the safety of Americans and the responsible use of taxpayer dollars." Democratic former President Bill Clinton holds the post-World War Two record for government employment reduction, but that was over the full eight years of his two-term presidency. Clinton oversaw a federal workforce reduction of more than 430,000, or about 20%. At the same time, though, a red-hot economy and tech boom produced more than 22 million private-sector jobs during Clinton's term, and his federal workforce cuts left no visible imprint on the overall job market. NASA BRAIN DRAIN Nearly 4,000 NASA employees took the two buyouts the Trump administration offered in January and April, said Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a union that represents 8,000 NASA employees.  "The agency is losing some of the most brilliant engineers and aeronautic scientists in the world, and they are not being replaced," Biggs said. Cheryl Warner, a NASA spokesperson, said the agency is pursuing a "golden age" of exploration and innovation, including to the moon and Mars. "The agency will continue to assess the types of skills and roles needed to meet our priorities," she said. The buyouts, which have been taken by 154,000 workers, were part of a broader push by Trump, a Republican, and his billionaire former adviser Elon Musk, who argued that the federal workforce had become too big and too inefficient. Opposition Democrats say the cuts have been indiscriminate.   The U.S. government spent $359 billion on civilian employee pay and benefits in the 2023 budget year, according to the most recently available published figures. Through a combination of buyouts, firings and other incentives for workers to quit, the Trump administration will likely shed around 300,000 workers by the end of this year, its human resources chief said in August, which would amount to a 12.5% decrease in the federal workforce since January. The buyouts will produce an estimated $28 billion in savings annually, said McLaurine Pinover, a spokeswoman at the Office of Personnel and Management, which handles federal human resources matters. Reuters could not independently verify whether that figure is accurate. "The Deferred Resignation Program delivered incredible relief to the American taxpayer," Pinover said. The exit of so many workers from the federal payroll at once is unlikely to affect the national unemployment rate, as the federal workforce accounts for less than 1.5% of all payroll employment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BUYOUTS TAKE TOLL ON HEALTH AGENCIES At the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, roughly 1,200 employees took resignation offers, about 17% of the agency's staff. One of those was a scientist who specialized in rapid detection of fungal toxins in grain elevators, which helps farmers and grain processors assess whether crops are contaminated, said Ethan Roberts, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3247, a union which represents some ARS employees. Without the scientist's highly specialized knowledge, there is no one to carry forward that work, Roberts said. Contaminated grains can severely sicken or even kill people and livestock, according to the World Health Organization. A USDA spokesperson said the agency will maintain all its critical functions despite the departure of more than 15,000 workers through the resignation programs. The buyouts have also taken a toll on health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in March the department would cut 10,000 employees through a combination of layoffs and buyouts. He said they would include 3,500 at the FDA and 2,400 at the CDC. A federal employee, granted anonymity for fear of retribution, said the FDA was struggling to update its National Youth Tobacco Survey, which collects data on tobacco use among U.S. middle and high-school students, because of buyouts and layoffs at the tobacco prevention and control unit of the CDC. Andrew G. Nixon, an HHS spokesman, said suggestions of a "brain drain" were misplaced and that the CDC and FDA remain deeply committed to tobacco prevention and control. (Reporting by Tim Reid, Courtney Rozen, Valerie Volcovici, Leah Douglas, Dan Burns, Patrick Wingrove, Andrew Goudsward and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Ross Colvin, Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis)

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By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) -Wall Street is set to close one of its calmest quarters in nearly six years, and the lull after a volatile start to 2025 has many market participants increasingly alert for renewed market gyrations. For the third quarter, the S&P 500's one-month volatility – a gauge of the index's monthly price swings – averaged 10.8, the lowest for any quarter since the three months ended December 2019. The stock market has climbed relentlessly to record highs as investors boosted equity exposure after April's tariff-related selloff, and Wall Street enjoyed a lack of new negative shocks. This crushed volatility. With the measure of market fear near historic lows, investors are growing wary that a spike could be close. "There's a natural floor for volatility. It doesn't go to zero," Matt Thompson co-portfolio manager at boutique investment firm Little Harbor Advisors, said. "We know where we are in the larger volatility cycle, so the next move for volatility is almost guaranteed to be higher at some point," he said. On Monday, the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index both closed not far from the respective record highs. HISTORICAL LOW Historically, volatility at these low levels tends to persist for weeks rather than months. Extended calm has often been followed by sharp spikes, including at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019 just before the pandemic market crash and the third quarter of 2018 when stocks sold off amid concerns about trade and economic growth. For now, optimism around large-cap stocks tied to artificial intelligence and confidence in the resilience of the U.S. economy continue to support investors' appetite for taking risk in equities. Still plenty of catalysts could spark volatility: A potential government shutdown could disrupt a wide range of services as soon as Wednesday. Investors also await economic data that will inform the path of interest rates. With macro risks elevated, a shock on the scale of August 2024 due to the yen carry trade unwind or April 2025's tariff scare would likely inflict greater losses on investors betting on continued calm than any gains from an extension in the current lull in stock swings, Rocky Fishman, founder of Asym 500, a firm that provides data and analytics on the options market, said in a note on Friday. Indeed, Cboe data showed some pick-up in demand for protection last week, with three-month skew – a gauge of demand for insurance against a market drop over the next three months – rising the most versus other tenors. RISKS ABOUND A pick-up in volatility could spark selling by systematic strategies – rules-based funds that use volatility and momentum signals to drive buying or selling decisions. The collapse in market gyrations has driven these types of strategies to raise their equity allocations to historically high levels. According to Deutsche Bank estimates, a jump in volatility could see them turn sellers of equities.   Deutsche Bank strategist Parag Thatte estimated such strategies command about $1 to $1.5 trillion in assets, enough to at times amplify market moves even if they are not huge in size relative to the overall equity market. "They don't start the moves but their impact can be a lot higher than one would expect given their size," Thatte said. Still, for many investors the recent low volatility is not reason enough to pull the trigger on hedges that can still prove to be expensive if market calm persists. Little Harbor Advisors' Thompson is content to trim equity exposure rather than buy downside protection, as he waits for more confirmation that market volatility is set to rise, he said. Others advocate taking advantage of the market calm to pick up hedges to complement risk-on positions. "For those who are all-in to the AI-driven FOMO rally, I really think the low volatility levels do allow for protection," said Tobias Hekster, co-CIO at True Partner Capital, using a market acronym for "fear of missing out." True Partner Capital is a global asset management firm specializing in equity volatility strategies. "One can stay with the herd, but have a parachute when the music stops," he said.  (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Additional reporting by Laura Matthews; Editing by Alden Bentley and David Gregorio)

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By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) -The Swiss National Bank ramped up foreign currency purchases during the second quarter, data showed on Tuesday, as the central bank reacted to appreciation pressure on the Swiss franc after President Donald Trump announced tariffs on U.S. imports in April. The central bank's purchase of 5.06 billion Swiss francs ($6.36 billion) worth of foreign currencies in April-June was its highest quarterly level of foreign currency interventions for more than three years. The SNB declined to comment. SAFE-HAVEN INFLOWS In April, the franc surged 7% versus the U.S. dollar, and 2.2% against the euro, with traders citing inflows into the franc amid heightened uncertainty around U.S. tariff policy, which pressured the dollar and lifted safe-haven currencies. "The SNB most likely intervened to smooth FX volatility after U.S. President Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs in April," said Karsten Junius, an economist at J.Safra Sarasin. "Those increased political uncertainty and market volatility significantly and might have led to inflows into the franc." The SNB buys foreign currencies as a way of cooling appreciation pressure by supplying the market with francs. A big surge in the value of the franc can hinder the SNB's goal of price stability – annual inflation running at 0-2% – by making imports cheaper. The increased SNB forex activity during the second quarter contrasted with small purchases totalling 1.26 billion francs over the previous five quarters. SNB FACES BAD OPTIONS SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel said last week the SNB would continue to use all of its tools, including currency interventions, to meet its inflation target, if necessary. On Monday the SNB and the U.S. Treasury Department reconfirmed that they do not target exchange rates for competitive purposes after Washington added Switzerland to a list of countries being monitored for unfair currency and trade practice in June. Charlotte de Montpellier, an economist at ING Bank, said the statement would not likely change the SNB’s stance, with the central bank likely to use currency interventions in future. "The SNB currently faces two bad options. Either it does more forex interventions, which would attract negative attention in the U.S., or it takes interest rates below 0%, which it really doesn’t want to do," she said. ($1 = 0.7957 Swiss francs) (Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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(Reuters) -Global energy majors and related companies plan to slash more jobs in 2025, after cutting thousands last year, as the industry navigates weaker crude oil prices and a rapid consolidation. Benchmark Brent crude futures are down about 10.5% year-to-date, impacted by increased OPEC+ output and persistent demand uncertainty tied to the U.S. trade policy. A snapshot of energy companies that have announced job cuts in 2024 and 2025: Company Description Layoff/Job % of Total Cuts Workforce Imperial Oil The Canada-based Unknown 20% company said it would cut its workforce by about 20% by the end of 2027, part of a major restructuring that would eventually shutter most of its presence in the oil-and-gas city of Calgary. Halliburton  The oilfield services 290 Unknown provider has been employees cutting staff in in recent weeks, Argentina according to two sources familiar with the matter. In February, an oil and gas workers' union in Argentina's oil-rich Chubut province threatened to strike after Halliburton laid off hundreds of workers and decided to close its local office. OMV The Austrian oil, gas 2,000 8.6% and chemicals group plans to cut 2,000 of its 23,000 worldwide staff, the Kurier newspaper reported. ConocoPhillip It will cut 20-25% of Unknown 20%-25%  s  its workforce amid a broader restructuring program, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesperson. SLB  The company is Unknown Unknown reorganizing certain functions within its business and continuing to reduce its workforce, according to a source familiar with the matter and an internal email seen by Reuters. Chevron  It will lay off 15% Unknown 15%-20% to 20% of its global workforce, the U.S. oil company said in February during an internal employee town hall meeting, according to a source familiar with the matter. APA Corp  It has cut nearly 300 300 nearly 15% employees globally in January and late February, the company confirmed to Reuters in May. BP  British oil major BP 7,000 5% will cut over 5% of its global workforce, it said in January, as part of CEO Murray Auchincloss' efforts to reduce costs and rebuild investor confidence in the energy giant. Petronas Malaysian state Unknown 10% energy firm Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, will retrench about 10% of its workforce in a restructuring exercise, its chief executive said in June. Civitas It will reduce 10% of Unknown 10% Resources  its workforce in a bid to enhance and streamline its organizational structure, the company said in February. Harbour It is set to cut 250 250 Unknown Energy  jobs, approximately a quarter of the workforce at its UK unit based in Aberdeen, the company said in a statement in May. Equinor  Last year, it had 250 Unknown announced plans to lay off some 20% or about 250 people from its renewable energy division after scaling down its offshore wind plans.  Shell  Last year, Shell had Unknown 20% announced plans to scale back its oil and gas exploration and development workforce by 20%, after deep cuts in renewables and low-carbon businesses. Exxon Mobil  Last year, it 400 Unknown announced plans to cut nearly 400 jobs in Texas following its purchase of shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources, according to a regulatory filing. (Reporting by Sumit Saha, Pranav Mathur, Tanay Dhumal, Nerijus Adomaitis and Pooja Menon; Editing by David Gregorio, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sriraj Kalluvila)

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TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's Nippon Steel said on Tuesday it had bought a 30% stake in Canada's Kami iron ore project, forming a joint venture with Australia's Champion Iron and Sojitz to secure high-grade ore supplies for direct reduced iron. Japan's top steelmaker paid C$42 million ($30.2 million) of the total C$150 million consideration through its unit NS Canadian Resources, with the remaining C$108 million to be paid pending an additional investment decision based on a feasibility study. The deal follows a December agreement under which Nippon Steel and trading house Sojitz agreed to buy a 49% interest in the project from Champion Iron for C$245 million. Under a new joint venture, Kami Iron Mine Partnership, the companies will advance a feasibility study for the project in Newfoundland and Labrador, which is under consideration for development. The project's iron ore is a high-grade, scarce resource suitable for producing direct reduced iron, Nippon Steel said. Direct reduced iron, along with high-quality scrap, is needed for the production of high-grade steel from large electric arc furnaces, which Nippon Steel aims to build to reduce carbon emissions. The Japanese steelmaker, which has recently acquired U.S. Steel, has been expanding stakes in coking coal and iron ore mines to ensure a stable supply of essential raw materials. ($1 = 1.3908 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi. Editing by Mark Potter)

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By Blake Brittain and Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration on Monday to pause the layoffs of hundreds of employees from the agency that owns the U.S. news service Voice of America, adding that government officials had shown "concerning disrespect" for the court's directives. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth halted the plan while he determines whether the U.S. Agency for Global Media complied with an injunction he issued in April that it "fulfills its statutory mandate that VOA serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news." The layoffs would affect 532 jobs for full-time staff, representing most of the agency's remaining employees. VOA broadcasts were abruptly shut down in March under an executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump. Lamberth said in his written order that he "no longer harbors any doubt" that the defendants, which include the agency and its acting CEO Kari Lake, "lack a plan to comply with the preliminary injunction". Instead, they have "been running out the clock on the fiscal year while remaining in violation of even the most meager reading of USAGM and Voice of America’s statutory obligations," he said. Representatives for the White House and the agency, as well as attorneys for the employees who filed the litigation did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision. Trump, who clashed with VOA during his first term, picked Lake, a former news anchor, to be its director for his second. Lake, a staunch ally of the president, has often accused mainstream media of harboring anti-Trump bias. Founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA reached 360 million people a week in 2024, according to a USAGM report to Congress.  Lamberth, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, has been hearing a batch of lawsuits challenging the legality of Trump's March executive order. The cases include one filed by Michael Abramowitz, VOA's director.      (Reporting by Blake Brittain and Jan Wolfe in Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

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