Bank of Japan says it will closely monitor the Middle East conflict, yen moves and demand for artificial intelligence.

Axios reports a Democratic Senate super PAC privately told major donors Texas is the best pickup opportunity in a deep-red state, followed by Ohio, where races remain tightly contested. The Senate GOP political action committee says Democrats could also win Iowa and Alaska, though results in those races may take longer to resolve. With voting next Tuesday, Democrats are increasingly cautiously confident; to retake the Senate they must win two of those four seats, flip North Carolina and Maine, and avoid an upset loss in Michigan.

Bank of Japan says it must pay particular attention to the risk that upside deviation in inflation materializes and subsequently harms the economy.