US president Donald Trump confirmed earlier on Twitter he had agreed to delay US tariff hikes that were due to come into effect on Friday, but added "Let's see what happens?"
Among the gold majors, Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX) lost 3% after outlining its official nil-premium, all-share offer for Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) which it said would create "the world's best gold company".
Newmont, which has said it would fully evaluate Barrick's proposal but believed its planned Goldcorp merger offered compelling and superior benefits, closed 1% lower.
The spot gold price is similar to this point yesterday, around US$1,329 an ounce.
North American Palladium (TSX: PDL) rose 8.42% and Platinum Group Metals (TSX: PTM) gained 10.19% as the palladium spot price reached a fresh high of $1,555.42/oz.
US and European market futures were pointing lower although Toronto was the exception.
Base metals were mixed in London yesterday and base metal futures, bar aluminium, were lower in Asian trade at the time of writing.
Metals and mining stocks were 1.4% lower in Australian trade this afternoon.
BHP (ASX: BHP) was off 1.7% in late afternoon trade.
