Sydney, June 9, 2026, 06:04 (AEST)
- ASX cash trading did not open on Monday because of the King’s Birthday holiday. Normal trading is set to start again Tuesday morning in Sydney.
- Woolworths closed at A$35.69, rising 1.22% on Friday and gaining about 1.3% for the week.
- The stock now faces a near-term test on whether better grocery sales can balance out higher fuel costs, price investment, and weaker consumer confidence.
Woolworths Group shares are due to resume trading on Tuesday following the long weekend. Investors are watching for a possible small bounce in the supermarket operator’s stock, but the profit outlook remains unclear.
ASX was closed Monday for the King’s Birthday holiday. The last trade was Friday, with the index ending at A$35.69. ASX will resume normal trading from about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sydney time.
Woolworths outperformed last week, finishing higher while the rest of the market lost ground. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.70% to 8,625.10 on Friday. Woolworths shares gained 1.22%, market data show.
Woolworths shares finished the week up roughly 1.3% from their May 29 close at A$35.23. The stock dropped on June 1 and June 2, then gained ground for three sessions straight after that.
Woolworths did not issue any price-sensitive trading updates during the holiday break. According to ASX filings, the most recent company item is a June 5 Appendix 3Y for Scott Perkins. The last operational update with price impact was the April 30 third-quarter sales result.
Woolworths reported group sales up 4.5% to A$18.1 billion for the 13 weeks to April 5, driven by a 5.9% lift in Australian Food. Group e-commerce sales jumped 20.2% to A$2.7 billion.
Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell said the company has improved on value, fresh food, convenience and store execution, but flagged that “cost-of-living pressures are already acute.” Woolworths kept its guidance for Australian Food EBIT growth in fiscal 2026 in the mid-to-high single digits, but no longer sees the top end of that range.
Woolworths shares slumped almost 10% in late April after the company warned on fuel costs and spending to keep shoppers. The grocer said it would freeze prices on 300 household staples for three months starting May 1, Reuters reported.
Coles, Woolworths’ main listed competitor, last changed hands at A$22.21, up 1.88%. Wesfarmers finished at A$78.93, up 0.40%, according to ASX data.
The market may see the rebound in the share price as shaky. Rising fuel costs, pressure from suppliers and wary shoppers threaten margins if Woolworths decides to take the hit in order to protect its market position. Any new signs of Coles pulling in more customers would add to the stress.
Supermarket stocks could get a test after the ASX opens this week, with traders watching if defensive buying continues and if Woolworths can hang onto the gains it made in late May without any new news from the company. How the index trades after the break may weigh more than it usually does.
