The two heavyweight sectors, mining and banking, were both down around 0.3 percent, despite data pointing to signs of growth in the United States, while the battered retail sector bounced 0.4 percent.
US data showed more than twice the expected number of private sector jobs were created in December and services grew more quickly than expected.
"Europe's still the main determinant," said Simon Burge, portfolio manager at ATI Asset Management.
He said there was too much uncertainty to start buying resources stocks again.
"The hardest thing is determining when is the time to venture into those. It comes down to seeing some bottoming in these global growth expectations, which I don't know if we've seen yet," Burge said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 10 points to 4,133.1 at midday, having given up nearly half its gains from the first two days of trading in 2012.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 28.5 points, or 0.9 percent, to 3,255.6.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
Extract Resources rose 0.2 percent to A$8.49 after China Guangdong Nuclear Power set the clock ticking on a proposed $2.2 billion bid for the company developing what could become the world's second-largest uranium mine, in Namibia.
Alumina Ltd dropped 4 percent to a 32-month low of A$1.085 after Alcoa Inc said it would close a US smelter and curtail about 12 percent of its global aluminium smelting capacity as economic uncertainty had hit demand and driven down aluminium prices.
Alumnina's shares rebounded to trade up 0.9 percent at A$1.14. Alumina is Alcoa's 40 percent partner in Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals, the world's largest producer of alumina, used to make aluminium.