US president Donald Trump has reiterated calls for a "big cut" in interest rates, tweeting earlier "Doing great with China and other trade deals", adding "the only problem we have is Jay Powell and the Fed."

Toronto market futures were positive at the time of writing but US and European futures were pointing to a lower start.

The price of iron ore 62% fines has fallen more than 6% to US$83.05 per tonne, according to MySteel, with IG market analyst Kyle Rodda saying today a weaker economic outlook seemed to have become the driving factor in the price downturn.

"Momentum has demonstrably turned to the downside looking at market technicals, indicating an iron ore price that could fall further from here," he said.

The gold price has dropped just below $1,500 an ounce on the spot market, to $1,499.90/oz at the time of writing.

Among the diversified majors, BHP (ASX: BHP) was up 0.2% in afternoon trade, while Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) closed down about 0.5% and Glencore (LSE: GLEN) gained 1.1% in London yesterday.

Gold majors Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE: NEM) lost 0.1% yesterday and Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX) eased 0.3% from the previous day's high.