Brokers said the change in direction was no surprise as there was nothing to justify a move higher with shares already pricing in strong earnings growth which has yet to materialise.
'It's in a sort of holding pattern -- range-trading. The next key will be reporting season,' said David Spry, research manager at broker F.W. Holst.
Banks went into reverse early afternoon, with Westpac Banking Corp falling the most, down 0.9 percent.
While the miners stayed in positive territory, they came off the day's highs. BHP Billiton rose 0.2 percent to A$42.05, while Rio Tinto rose 0.1 percent to A$76.56.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 5.2 points at 4,876.3 by 0223 GMT, after touching a high of 4,911.9.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index slipped 0.3 percent to 3,297.1.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Infigen Energy slid 20 percent to A$0.96 after saying it had decided to keep its U.S. wind energy business as bids it had received were too low.
'The U.S. sale process was initiated to release capital to accelerate our Australian investment growth potential, but at the prices finally offered the amount released would not have been sufficiently material to our Australian strategy,' Infigen Managing Director Miles George said in a statement.
0230 GMT
* Blood products maker CSL fell 4.2 percent to a two-month low of A$32.53, adding to a 7 percent slide on Friday on earnings growth worries after a profit warning from rival Baxter International. Volume in the first hour of trade was nearly triple its daily average volume.
'Those stocks that are growth stocks that people pay a higher p-e (price-earnings multiple) for, like CSL, if there's anything disappointing they get smashed a lot quicker,' said ATI's Burge.
0106 GMT
(Reporting by Sonali Paul; editing by Ed Davies)
((sonali.paul@thomsonreuters.com; +61 3 9286 1419; Reuters Messaging: sonali.paul.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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