Markets across Asia have dropped in early trade over inflation concerns.

In Japan, the Nikkei has slumped 4 per cent, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng dropped 1.45 per cent.

Mainland Chinese stocks are also down.

In South Korea, the market has declined under 1 per cent.

Australian investors are in for a roller coaster day.

Australia’s share market dived in early trading after sharp falls on Wall Street.

The ASX 200 index fell as much as 1.5% to 7258 points.

It’s the biggest decline in four weeks.

Sectors including Financials, Energy and Materials led early falls.

Commonwealth Bank fell 3.9% after a string of record highs in recent weeks.

The other major banks fell more than 2.2%.

Australian dollar is hitting a new low

So why has this happened? A big reason is following similar damage on Wall Street and in European markets which has been triggered by St Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard predicting US interest rates would rise next year, perhaps earlier than some would expect.

The Australian dollar was firmer on Monday morning, buying around 75.05 US cents, after hitting its lowest level in six months as the US dollar strengthened.

Bullard added to expectations that US interest rates could rise sooner rather than later.

He is one of seven Fed policymakers to predict a first rate hike in 2022.

“This suggests the Fed will move earlier than the RBA and will be moving by slightly more than the RBA over 2023, which has implications for the [Australian dollar],” St George chief economist Besa Deda wrote.

Bitcoin takes a tumble

Bitcoin declined about 5% over the past 24-hours as the price broke below $36,000 support.

Traders are concerned about the looming ‘death cross,’ which could indicate a shift from a bullish to bearish price trend.

This comes amid growing concerns over the energy usage required to mine cryptocurrencies.

This is the currency’s fourth decline in the past five sessions. Ether also tumbled.