"With the exception of nickel and tin, base metals bounced back as equity markets stabilised and the dollar declined," Marex Spectron's Dee Perera said from the LME Desk.

Perera said nickel hit a year-to-date low amid indications China's imports were likely to fall in November.

Lithium miners were three of the top five gainers among larger Australian equities today on the back of Mineral Resources' (ASX: MIN) deal with global specialty chemicals giant Albemarle.

MinRes said it had entered an exclusive agreement over the potential US$1.15 billion sale of 50% of its stake in the Wodgina lithium project in Western Australia to form a joint venture with Albemarle.

MinRes was up more than 26% at the time of writing, with Galaxy Resources up around 9% and Pilbara Minerals, which officially opened its Pilgangoora lithium mine last week, up almost 8%.

Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), for its part, closed down 0.23% in New York yesterday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday today.

Metals and mining stocks gained more than 3% yesterday in Toronto.

Troilus Gold (TSX: TLG) was among the better performers, up about 17%, as investors continued to digest news of its 90% increase to the resource at its flagship project in Quebec.

Finally, the gold price several dollars higher than this time yesterday thanks to the weaker US dollar, close to US$1,227 an ounce on the spot market.