While miners weren't spared, the gold patch's gain of around 2% cushioned the headline fall, with elements of safe haven buying and an Australian dollar gold price trading a little below A$1700/oz likely underpinning some of the buying.
Base metal futures were off the pace in Asian trade, with copper down nearly 1.5% in afternoon trade.
The best performed stocks were dominated by those producing the yellow metal, with top honours shared by Evolution and St Barbara - two gold miners left a little bit in the shade of late with as investors flocked to peer Northern Star in the wake of its well-received Pogo acquisition.
The worst of the bigger mining stocks was Orocobre though shareholders unhappy with its more than 7% decline should spare a though for backers of...
