AU Evening Wrap: Australia Shares Fall 0.3%, Notch Weekly Decline

The heavyweight financial sector also lost 0.25% on Friday and 1.1% throughout the week, trimming its recent strong gains.

The Bank of Japan has announced a delay in providing details on its bond buying program, causing the yen to weaken and Japanese sovereign bonds to surge. Although the central bank stated its intention to reduce debt purchases, the specifics will not be revealed until the next policy meeting. As a result, the yen slumped against the US dollar by as much as 0.6%, before recovering some of the losses. Meanwhile, benchmark 10-year bonds rose, with yields dropping to 0.915%. Futures on the securities also saw a surge, the highest since late December. Traders are now reducing their bets for a rate rise by the central bank next month, as evidenced by swaps markets pricing.

Citi has upgraded its earnings projections for copper mining stocks following an upward revision of its price forecasts for the metal. The broker has raised its copper price projections for 2025 to $US12,000 per tonne, up from $US10,000 per tonne previously. According to Citi, the metal is expected to consolidate within the range of $US9,500 to $US10,500 per tonne in the September quarter, which is predicted to provide a buying opportunity. Subsequently, the prices are expected to skyrocket to a record high of $US12,000 per tonne by the end of the year.