April retail sales data misses expectations Energy stocks fall...

	  April retail sales data misses expectations 

	  Energy stocks fall for fifth straight session 

	  NZ50 marks third straight session of losses 

(Updates to close)

Australian shares ended lower on Tuesday as the country's retail sales data, which pointed towards elevated inflation rates, dampened investor sentiment, with the focus now turning to the inflation print for further clues on the monetary policy.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) fell 0.3% to 7766.70 points. The benchmark rose 0.8% on Monday.

Australian retail sales grew at a snail's pace in April, indicating that consumers were likely spending less, weakening any expectations that household spending might add to economic growth in the quarter.

The data was "consistent with our view that inflation will reach the top end of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) 2-3% target band in the second half of the year," said analysts at Capital Economics.

Investors now await the local inflation data, due on Wednesday. "While we expect the RBA to only start cutting interest rates at the beginning of next year, the prolonged weakness in consumption opens the door for an earlier rate cut," the analysts added.

Financial stocks dropped 0.14% on interest rate concerns. Westpac (WBC) closed 0.6% lower and financial conglomerate Macquarie (MQG) ended the day down 0.9%.

Miners .AXMM dropped 0.1% as iron-ore prices slipped overnight. Behemoths BHP Group (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) closed 0.2% and 0.1% lower respectively.

The energy sub-index ended lower too, falling 0.1%, to end their fifth straight session of losses, tracking the broader market. Sector major Woodside (WDS) closed down 0.3%.

Technology stocks .AXIJ fell as well, tracking the sombre sentiment across traders after Wall Street remained closed overnight for Memorial Day.

Sector majors Xero (XRO) and WiseTech Global (WTC) lost 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.6% to end the session at 11682.51 points, marking its third consecutive day of losses.