At noon AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 15.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7,7772.6, while the broader All Ordinaries had dropped 17.3 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,042.8.
Earlier the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that retail turnover rose just 0.1 per cent in April, versus the 0.3 per cent that economists had predicted.
ABS head of retail statistics Ben Dorber said the small rise was not enough to make up for the 0.4 per cent fall in March.
"Since the start of 2024, trend retail turnover has been flat as cautious consumers reduce their discretionary spending," he said.
Sean Langcake, head of macroeconomic forecasting for Oxford Economics Australia, said the readout left retail sales broadly unchanged over the past seven months, and he expected subdued momentum for the rest of the year.
Five of the ASX's 11 sectors were lower at midday, three were higher and telecommunications, tech and energy were basically flat.
Consumer discretionaries, industrials and utilities were the biggest movers, with all three sectors down 0.6 per cent.
Boss Energy was the biggest loser in the ASX200, dropping 9.6 per cent after the uranium producer announced that chief executive Duncan Craib, chairman Wyatt Buck and director Bryn Jones had all sold a portion of their shareholdings.
Strike Energy was the biggest winner, rising 8.5 per cent to 22.25c after announcing its Walyering gas field in WA had reached "payback" of its $30 million capital spend, bringing in $47 million in income.
In the heavyweight mining sector, goldminers were doing well as the precious metal changed hands for $US2,353 ($A3,536) an ounce. Evolution was up 1.7 per cent, Northern Star had added 1.0 per cent and Newmont had gained 0.9 per cent.
The iron ore giants were mixed, with BHP up 0.2 per cent and Rio Tinto and Fortescue both down 0.2 per cent.
All of the big four banks were lower, with Westpac down 0.9 per cent, CBA down 0.4 per cent and ANZ and NAB both down 0.3 per cent.
Peter Warren Automotive Holdings was down 11.2 per cent to an all-time low of $1.90 after the network of east coast dealerships announced its full-year profit would be less than the market had expected.
The cost of consumer demand for new vehicles has reduced with cost-of-living pressures, and while an increase in vehicle supply by automakers has resulted in lower profit margins.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.66 US cents, from 66.34 US cents at Monday's ASX close.
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