There will be economic indications later this week with both the US and China set to release retail sales figures, Bloomberg noted.
Metals and mining stocks were down a collective 2.7% in London yesterday, where most base metals also closed lower on the London Metal Exchange.
Glencore (LSE: GLEN) closed down 3.5%.
The big mover among Toronto's gold equities was Semafo (TSX: SMF), which plunged a further 16.8% after saying its Boungou gold operations would remain suspended.
Its shares have lost a third of their value since last week's fatal attack on a convoy making its way to Boungou in Burkina Faso's east.
Metals and mining stocks were off about 0.5% in early afternoon Australian trade.
There were mixed moves by gold equities, with producers Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX: SAR) down 2.6% and St Barbara (ASX: SBM) up 1.4% at the time of writing.
The spot gold price had dipped below US$1,450 an ounce yesterday but was earlier trading about $1,456/oz.