Asian stocks were set to dip, after a slide on Wall Street sparked by Federal Reserve minutes indicating officials could start paring stimulus from later this year, Bloomberg reported.

The S&P 500 closed down more than 1%.

Meanwhile, BHP has warned "the increasing likelihood of stern cuts to steel output in China in the current half year … is testing the bullish resolve of the futures markets".

"Prices have decreased materially in late July and early August, but they remain extremely high relative to history at around US$160/t at the time of writing," BHP said in an economic and commodity outlook posted on its website this week.

BHP shares have continued to slide, down more than 6% in morning trade, as investors continue to digest the company's plans to end its dual company structure and exit oil and gas.

Base metals closed lower in London, while gold remains around $1,785 an ounce on the spot market.

Finally Arbor Metals (TSXV: ABR) shot up 11.1% or C20c in Toronto after saying access and travel to Burkina Faso and its Rakounga gold project continued to improve and it was confident "significant progress" would be made in developing the project through the fall and winter.