Shawdesh desk:

Asian markets dipped in early trade Friday after a negative lead from Wall Street, with investors around the world worried about surging inflation.

Central banks in several major economies including the United States, Canada and Britain have already started raising interest rates to contain prices, but the European Central Bank on Thursday kept its stimulus plans and rates unchanged.

That sent the euro plunging to a near two-year low, but eurozone stocks were boosted, but Wall Street retreated ahead of the Easter holidays.

The mood was subdued in Asia too, where only a handful of markets were open on Good Friday.

The Nikkei 225 slid 0.7 percent with Wall Street’s woes depressing sentiment.

The Tokyo market is likely to be “dominated by sell orders as investors are disheartened by falls in US shares,” Mizuho Securities said in a note.

Shanghai dropped 0.2 percent.