Updates

** Shares in Australia's major supermarkets rise: Woolworths WOW.AX up 5.6%, while Coles COL.AX gains 4.1%

** Woolworths (Woolies) set for strongest trading session since April 2020 and was trading at A$29.72

** Coles last trading at A$19.15

** A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says supermarket chains have benefited from wider profit margins at a time of rapidly increasing shelf prices

** ACCC recommends measures like publishing package size changes and limiting supermarkets' negotiating power to promote fairness

** Citi analysts find the report consistent with prior expectations and see no call for regulating grocery pricing or promotions

** Citi terms the recommendations as "benign"

** Analysts at Jefferies say the report did not ask supermarkets to make any forced divestitures and that it reduces earnigs risk

** COL & WOW need to evolve their non-food pricing model to stem channel leakage, but are unlikely to do so until perception settles — Jefferies

(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru)

((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk))