"Whilst there will be a school of thought that will take the line this deterioration should result in govt stimulus, in the here and now metals prices are under pressure with signs of onshore traders shorting the likes of lead and zinc," Marex's Al Munro said.

In another dent to sentiment, US jobs figures showed fewer jobs were created than expected in August.

Copper closed down more than 2% on the London Metal Exchange.

The uranium price continues to power up after the world's biggest producer Kazatomprom trimmed full-year guidance last week and the recently-created Sprott Physical Uranium Trust has started making purchases. 

As of yesterday, the trust held almost 21 million pounds of yellowcake.

The uranium spot price rose more than 3% to $35.65 a pound, its highest point in almost six years.

Canada-based producer Cameco was up 3.69% in Toronto yesterday.

The gold price is similar to earlier this week, at US$1,818 an ounce on the spot market.

Finally among the majors, Rio Tinto lost almost 1% in London, Freeport-McMoRan was down 1.37% in New York and BHP had tumbled more than 7% in Australian trade today.