At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 14.30 points or 0.26 percent at 5,587.70, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 13.90 points or 0.24 percent at 5,664.90, Xinhua news agency reported.
International markets were broadly weaker on the back of financial data releases, which set the tone for the Asia Pacific market open.
"European investors fled share markets and oil and industrial metals came under pressure," CMC Markets' chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
"US investors responded to the weak leads, despite stronger than expected domestic retail sales and capacity utilization numbers.
"The US dollar strengthened and bonds rose, increasing pressure on commodity prices."
On the local market the banks fell the furthest, with energy and healthcare along with tech stocks, also firmly lower.
Materials and industrials rallied, as did communications services and utilities.
In the financial space, Australia's big banks slumped with the Commonwealth Bank down (0.74 percent), ANZ down (2.18 percent), National Australia Bank down (1.35 percent) and Westpac Bank down (1.05 percent).
Mining stocks rallied with BHP up (1.64 percent), Fortescue Metals up (1.70 percent), Rio Tinto up (1.27 percent), and goldminer Newcrest up (0.29 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers dropped with Woodside Petroleum down (0.32 percent), Oil Search down (0.49 percent) and Santos down (0.36 percent).
Australia's largest supermarket chains were mixed with Coles unchanged (0.0 percent), and Woolworths up (0.18 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra bounced (0.52 percent), the national carrier Qantas lost altitude (0.18 percent) and biomedical firm CSL edged lower (0.35 percent).
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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