Markets grappling with 5 doubts today, what's happening?

Markets under pressure today, with at least 5 questions seeking answers from investors.
There are still many unknowns that dominate global stock markets, from the moves of central banks with the rising expectation for the first rate cut between the Fed, ECB and BoE up to the movements of world currencies and very uncertain and dangerous geopolitical events.
Against this backdrop, Asian stocks struggled to find momentum in today's session, while mixed messages from US monetary authorities and the instability of the Chinese yuan left traders uncertain, with the release of US inflation data on Friday looms over the global financial outlook.
The markets therefore remain grappling with 5 doubts in search of an answer.
1.
Who will cut rates first? It could be the Bank of England that surprises everyone and beats its European and US counterparts in interest rate cuts, in a turnaround from expectations.
This is what traders are betting on.
Money markets are pricing in easing in the next monetary policy decision, estimating the probability of a cut at 20%, compared to less than 10% for the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
Meanwhile, conflicting messages have come from the US central bank.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said he expected three rate cuts this year, while Fed Governor Lisa Cook urged caution and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic reiterated Friday's remarks by reducing his expectations with a single decrease.
2.
Where is the price of oil going? Oil stabilized after the week's biggest gain, with OPEC+ poised to assert its policy of production cuts amid tensions in the Middle East and Russia.
OPEC+ delegates see no need to change supply policy at a review meeting next week, with quotas in place until June proving effective, according to several country officials.
The Houthis meanwhile renewed threats against Saudi Arabia if it supported the US attacks, while the Russian leader continues to seek a link to Ukraine for Friday's terrorist attack.
All this tension could spill over into the price of oil, with supply strained by a still-unpredictable war in the Middle East and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict at a point of high tension.
3.
What happens to the price of cocoa? Among raw materials, the skyrocketing price of cocoa is causing interest and concern.
Just days before Easter, the commodity gained more than $700 a tonne in a single day and surpassed $9,000 for the first time ever as the supply crunch throws the market into crisis.
Futures in New York rose for a fourth straight day, adding to gains after news of financing difficulties in Ghana, the world's second-biggest producer.
The country is destined to lose access to an important financing instrument.
The Ghana Cocoa Board, the industry regulator known as Cocobod, relies on foreign funding to pay cocoa farmers for their beans.
4.
Yuan and yen, what are the prospects? Monday's rhetoric from Japan's top currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, kept the yen stable as traders weighed the risk of heavy buying by Japan.
Kanda said the yen's recent decline was "strange and speculative." The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised interest rates last week, but the yen fell to near three-decade lows against the dollar.
The Chinese yuan opened steadily after a stronger-than-expected setting of its swing range, but selling pressure soon took it to the weak side of its 200-day moving average at 7.2184 per dollar.
Markets were roiled by the yuan's sharp decline on Friday, after months of tight trading, and some speculate that China is loosening its grip on the currency to allow it to fall.
“Whether this reflects a shift in currency policy remains to be seen, but accommodative monetary conditions are needed in the face of growth headwinds,” said BofA Securities strategist Adarsh ​​Sinha.
“If the (yuan) depreciation were to be sustained and coincide with a weaker credit impulse, Asian FX would be vulnerable.” 5.
How long will the rally on Wall Street last? A sense of caution prevailed among investors this week as concern grew about a disconnect between earnings expectations and stock prices.
Strategists at Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
were the latest to warn that it will be difficult to justify lofty valuations if the earnings acceleration doesn't materialize.
“We continue to see sentiment as on edge and believe a U.S.
stock market pullback is overdue,” said Lori Calvasina of RBC Capital Markets.
In a sign of just how overheated the stock market has been, the S&P 500 ended last week 14% above its 200-day moving average.
However, the combination of strong U.S.
economic data, expectations that the Fed will cut rates and optimism about artificial intelligence have pushed the S&P 500 index up nearly 10% this year.