Overnight the USD index climbed 0.35% to 102.53 and the S&P 500 dropped 1.11%, weighing on base metals as copper fell 0.89% to 6.6185 USD/lb while lithium carbonate slipped 3.05% to 108250 CNY/t and spodumene SC6 declined 1.92% to 1535 USD/t. The moves reflect risk-off flows rather than fresh China demand data, with LME copper stocks remaining tight in the 232 kt range. No new PMI or industrial output releases altered the picture. The decisive overnight event was BHP and the supervisors’ union at Escondida reaching a preliminary agreement on improved benefits, averting a strike at the world’s largest copper mine that produces 1.0–1.1 Mt copper annually; government talks were extended one day for ratification while operations continued normally. This eases immediate supply risk but leaves cumulative 2025–26 copper mine disruptions at 350–400 kt, including Codelco’s El Teniente landslide and the ongoing Centinela strike. On the ASX, BHP is most directly exposed as the operator of Escondida, with the labor resolution removing a near-term negative catalyst; Antofagasta remains under pressure from the halted mining and development activities at Centinela, where processing continues only on stockpiles.