President Donald Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina and his administration has proposed tariffs on US$2.4 billion of French goods, which may add to concerns about the looming December 15 deadline on the next round of levies on China, Bloomberg noted.
Key Australasian indices were lower at the time of writing although US and European market futures were looking positive, while Toronto indicated a lower start.
In Toronto, Continental Gold (TSX: CNL) shot up 10.7% yesterday to a one-year high in the wake of Zijin Mining's premium C$1.4 billion cash offer.
Centerra Gold (TSX: CG) was headed in the opposite direction, losing 11.4% as it continued a search and rescue operation for two employees missing after a significant rock slide at the Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Metals and mining stocks were off 1.1% in afternoon Australian trade.
BHP (ASX: BHP) was down 1.3% at the time of writing.
Finally, the gold price was down slightly, around $1,462 an ounce earlier.
