Australian shares to fall despite Wall Street’s records, as bitcoin faces risk of tougher US regulation

Australian shares are expected to open lower, despite global markets climbing to their highest levels ever.

Overseas investors are betting new US President Joe Biden and central banks will introduce trillions of dollars worth of stimulus this year to cushion the pandemic’s damage and bolster economic growth.

ASX futures were down 23 points (-0.3pc) to 6,749, by 7:05am AEDT.

The Australian dollar was steady (+0.1pc) at 77.6 US cents.

But the local currency was slightly weaker (-0.3pc) at 63.8 euro cents after the European Central Bank held its monthly policy meeting.

The ECB kept its deposit rate unchanged at -0.5 per cent, and maintained the overall quota for bond purchases at $2.9 trillion (1.85 trillion euros), as expected.

Bitcoin slumped…