Base metals were weaker initially yesterday but by the close prices were mixed and generally firmer suggesting scale down buying remains strong. Copper closed off 0.8 percent at $4,775, nickel was off 0.1 percent, while the rest were up an average of 0.4 percent. Precious metals were mixed with palladium off 0.9 percent at $693, platinum was up 0.2 percent, silver was off 0.2 percent at $19.76, while gold prices were up 0.3 percent at $1,351.05. Read more at fastmarkets.com