Base metals except aluminium dropped on the London Metal Exchange on Friday.
Marex Spectron said aluminium's outperformance for the week was supported by reports of worker strikes at Alcoa's Western Australia operations (although the firm had said this would not impact operations), and positive onshore sentiment amid reports of increased steel production curbs in China.
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) shares closed up 4.63% in New York on Friday.
In Australian trade this afternoon, nickel miner Western Areas (ASX: WSA) was down 4.8% and BHP (ASX: BHP) was down 1.2% at the time of writing.
Metals and mining stocks had finished the week 1.1% lower in Canada.
However gold producer Pretium Resources (TSX: PVG) was a highlight, closing up more than 19% on the back of a knock-out profit in second quarter results that exceeded expectations.
Uranium hopeful Forsys Metals Corp (TSX: FSY) closed up a similar amount on no news.
Finally, the gold price was headed lower on the spot market today and was trading below US$1,208 an ounce on the spot market earlier.
