A Senior Bank of Japan official's comments are crossing the wires:

''Once Japan sustainably achieves 2% target, BoJ no longer needs to maintain massive stimulus so long-term rates will come under upward pressure.''

'Will sustain massive monetary stimulus as it will likely take time to achieve its price target.''

There has been no reaction to these comments although USD/JPY continues to move higher, now printing 118.39, the highest levels since January 2017.

The US dollar is strong at the start of the week in risk-off conditions. 

Weekend headlines included an FT report claiming that US officials believe Russia asked China to supply military equipment. The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, said it had not heard of this.