LONDON — Global markets were on a bumpy ride on Thursday as persistent inflationary pressure and fears of a faster-than-expected rise in U.S. interest rates look set to weigh on riskier assets.

Shares in Asia-PacificThe stock fell dramatically on Thursday following in the footsteps of the U.S. overnight. Tech-intensive Nasdaq lost more than 3 percent to post its largest one-day drop since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its first fall in 2022.

European stocks, in contrast, are expected to open sharply lowerLater on Thursday, the global slump will be extended.

This comes as market participants already are deeply worried about the global spread of highly infectious variant omicron Covid. Several countries have reported record-breaking daily infections within the past 24 hours.

Japan is home to the Nikkei 225 dipped almost 3% as the dash to get out of tech stocks continued to hit high-profile companies. Japan’s Sony GroupThe last time this was traded, it was down 5.2%.

Australian stocks suffered heavy losses during the S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.7%. The mainland China saw the following: Shanghai composite declined 0.25% while the Shenzhen component slipped 0.1%.

The MSCI’s Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan was 1.3% less.

Losses follow minutes from the Federal Reserve’s key December meetingThey were made public on Wednesday. According to the summary, the central bank was discussing reducing its current balance in an attempt to reduce its aggressively readjusting its easy monetary policies from before the pandemic.

As it tapers its bond purchases, the Fed plans to decrease the amount of Treasurys it has and to increase interest rates once the taper is over.

After the minutes were released, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield reached 1.7%. It traded at 1.7246% on Thursday around 3:00 a.m. ET. The yields of a product move in the opposite direction to its price.

Other places saw oil prices fall on Thursday morning. International benchmark BrentCrude futures were traded at $80.32 per barrel. This is 0.6% less than the previous year. U.S. West Texas IntermediateFutures closed at $77.38, an almost 0.65% decrease

— CNBC’s Eustance Huang & Jeff Cox contributed to this report.