The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was also higher at the time of writing, ahead of today's decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia which is widely tipped to announce a second rate cut for this year.

Chinese markets are now closed for national holidays until next Tuesday.

The gold price has sunk to US$1,468 an ounce on the spot market and economic bellwether copper also closed lower on the London Metal Exchange.

Zinc and lead were the "outperformers" yesterday on the LME, Marex Spectron's Dee Perera said, with both rising more than 3%.

On the TSX Venture Exchange, ScoZinc Mining (TSXV: SZM) made a 43% jump on no news.

The company's share price has been on the rise over the past few weeks following a management change and an uptick in the zinc price.
 
General Moly (TSX: GMO) was a standout on Toronto's main exchange, gaining 32% as it received the final federal permit for its majority-owned, proposed Mt Hope molybdenum mine in Nevada.

Finally among the majors, BHP (ASX: BHP) was up 0.2% in midday trade, Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) had closed down 0.9% in London and Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE: NEM) was down 1.2% yesterday.