Sydney, January 26, 2026, 16:57 AEDT — The market has shut down for the day.
- Woolworths Group WOW.AX closed last Friday’s session at A$30.38, down 1.24%
- Australia’s CPI, a key inflation gauge, drops Wednesday and could shift interest rate forecasts
- Woolworths is set to report its half-year results on February 25
Woolworths Group Ltd shares WOW.AX dipped 1.24%, ending Friday at A$30.38. Investors face a shortened trading week, eyeing an upcoming inflation report that could disrupt rate expectations.
The Australian Securities Exchange will be closed Monday in observance of Australia Day, then reopen Tuesday with only four trading sessions scheduled for the week.
Australia’s consumer price index (CPI), the key gauge of inflation, is set for release Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. AEDT, per the Australian Bureau of Statistics calendar.
Supermarket stocks are caught in a squeeze from the CPI. It chips away at consumers’ spending power while pushing up costs passed along by suppliers and transport companies.
Coles Group COL.AX edged down 0.43%, finishing Friday at A$21.00. Metcash MTS.AX, the wholesaler, fell 0.90% to A$3.32, putting some pressure on the grocery sector ahead of the restart.
Woolworths said it will release its fiscal 2026 half-year results on the ASX Wednesday, Feb. 25.
The report will focus on sales momentum, cost structure, and how aggressively the company is leveraging pricing to hold onto market share. Changes in promotional strategies or margin pressures tend to surface fast in retailer forecasts.
Other elements are influencing the scene. Earlier this month, New Zealand’s Commerce Commission pointed to Woolworths New Zealand over a likely breach involving product “delisting”—removing items from shelves. The retailer has updated its processes since. Alice Hume, head of groceries, admitted that the threat of delisting can put “a significant weight on suppliers.” Commerce Commission
Trading thins over the holidays, which can make price swings more volatile when the ASX reopens—particularly in major index stocks driven by passive flows and ETF rebalancing.
Tuesday kicks off market activity with a sharp focus on Wednesday’s CPI release. Then comes Feb. 25, when Woolworths reports earnings and fields questions from analysts about its outlook for the second half.
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