Australian shares are set to open lower on Thursday, tracking a slump in US peers as stimulus talks dragged on, while losses in the country's heavyweight gold stocks after an overnight slump in bullion prices are likely to pressure the index.

US stocks retreated on Wednesday from record levels on the halting progress of economic stimulus talks, while gold fell more than 2% due to optimism over incoming COVID-19 vaccines.

The local share price index futures fell 0.4%, a 26.5-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark rose 0.6% on Wednesday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.2% by 0957 GMT.