By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian equities stepped back from a record high on Wednesday as the region's resource shares were knocked by falling oil and commodity prices while digital currencies tumbled on worries about tighter regulations.
European shares were expected to dip, with futures pointing to a fall of 0.3 percent in Germany's Dax, 0.4 percent in France's Cac and 0.2 percent in Britain's FTSE.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan retreated 0.3 percent from its record high as resource shares declined after oil and other commodities succumbed to profit-taking after recent gains.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4 percent from its 26-year peak reached the previous day.
Wall Street paused its rally, hit by a 1.2 percent fall in energy stocks as well as weakness in General Electric. The U.S. conglomerate raised the prospect of breaking itself up and announced more than $11 billion in charges from its long-term care insurance portfolio and new U.S. tax laws.
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Cboe volatility index, which measures investors' expectation on price swings in U.S. shares, rose to a one-month closing high of 11.66 from near record low levels seen earlier this month.
World shares have rallied since the start of this year on prospects of continued strong global growth and improving earnings in the U.S. and elsewhere, with many analysts expecting an extension of the bull run in equities.
"U.S. corporate earnings are beating estimates more than usual. People have been talking about 'goldilocks economy'," said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Daiwa SB Investments, adding market fundamentals remain solid. "Now they are starting to think a 'red-hot' economy may be a better description."
In the currency market, the dollar was broadly weak, sticking near a three year low against a basket of currencies.
"As more countries in the world are starting to unwind their stimulus, the dollar's yield advantage will shrink and prompt a correction in the dollar's strength since 2014," said Minori Uchida, chief FX analyst at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi-UFJ.
The Bank of Canada is seen as likely to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent later in the day, with analysts expecting three hikes this year.
The Canadian dollar traded at C$1.2452 per dollar, off its three-month high of C$1.2355 hit on Jan 5.
Investors also expect the European Central Bank's eventual exit from stimulus as a major market theme for this year.
Three sources close to the ECB's policy told Reuters that the ECB is unlikely to ditch a pledge to keep buying bonds at next week's meeting just yet as rate setters need more time to assess the outlook for the economy and the euro.
Although the report briefly pushed down the euro on Tuesday, the currency scaled a three-year high of $1.2323 in Asian trade before easing back to $1.2242.
The ECB last week signalled a growing appetite for revising its policy message in "early" 2018, and specifically a promise to continue its 2.55 trillion euro money-printing programme until inflation heads back to target
The dollar also hit a four-month low of 110.19 yen before steadying around 110.56 yen. The Chinese yuan flirted with Monday's two-year high in both onshore and offshore trade.
Gold traded at $1,340.6 per ounce, near Monday's four-month peak of $1,344.7.
Taking a big blow, digital currencies tumbled, with bitcoin falling to a six-week low of $10,162 after reports said South Korea and China could ban trading, intensifying fears of a wider regulatory crackdown.
"Cryptocurrencies could be capped in the current quarter ahead of G20 meeting in March, where policymakers could discuss tighter regulations," said Shuhei Fujise, chief analyst at Alt Design.
Bitcoin traded at $10,968, down 3.7 percent in Asia, after a fall of 16.3 percent on Tuesday, its biggest daily decline in four months.
Oil prices pulled back from three-year highs as traders booked profits but healthy demand underpinned prices near $70 per barrel, a level not seen since the market slump in 2014.
Prices have been driven up by oil production curbs in OPEC nations and Russia, and demand amid healthy economic growth
U.S. crude futures traded little changed at $63.70 per barrel after hitting a December 2014 peak of $64.89 on Tuesday.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures fetched $69.14 a barrel, off a peak of $70.37 on Monday, which matched a high from December 2014 at the start of a three-year market decline.
(Editing by Sam Holmes & Shri Navaratnam)