Officials started two days of negotiations on Monday, with high-level talks involving Chinese vice premier Liu He, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin scheduled for Thursday, Bloomberg reported.

European and Australian market indices had closed higher yesterday while US and Asian markets closed lower.

China meanwhile has reportedly added more than 100 tonnes of gold to its reserves since resuming buying in December as trade tensions festered.

The gold price has slipped below US$1,500 an ounce to about $1,493/oz on the spot market earlier.

Copper rose about 1.4% on the London Metal Exchange yesterday.

China returns from a week-long holiday today.

Prophecy Development Corp (TSX: PCY) was one of the bigger movers in Toronto, gaining 25.6% yesterday as Bolivia granted the final mining production contract for its Pulacayo and Paca projects.

Over on the TSX Venture Exchange, Yukon explorer Triumph Gold (TSXV: TIG) jumped 34.5%, despite no news since last week's management appointments and last month's porphyry discovery at Freegold Mountain.