1. ASX set to reopen today

The Australian Securities Exchange said it will reopen at the usual time of 10am this morning after an outage yesterday left the market closed for most of the day. In a statement yesterday, ASX managing director Dominic Stevens said that the company was "very disappointed" and added that it was "sorry for the disruption caused to investors, customers and other market users".

2. Moderna's coronavirus vaccine is nearly 95% effective

A week after Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine trial news, Moderna has revealed data from its own vaccine trial involving 30,000 participants in the US. The company said that, of the first 95 participants to develop COVID-19, only five had received the vaccine compared to 90 who received a placebo, demonstrating a 94.5% efficacy. "This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease," said Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel.

3. Scott Morrison heads to Japan

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is flying to Tokyo today for his first trip overseas since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Morrison will meet with the country's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to discuss Australian hydrogen exports, and the two leaders are also expected to sign a new defence pact.

4. The $2.6 million pigeon

A Belgian racing pigeon has sold for 1.6 million euros ($2.6 million) at auction, with a wealthy Chinese collector making the winning bid. The two-year-old pigeon named New Kim won the title of best young bird in Belgium in 2018 and retired from racing. Total sales at the auction of 445 birds from retired pigeon breeder Gaston Van de Wouwer have reached almost $10 million.

5. New highs on Wall Street

The Dow Jones broke both its intraday and closing record on Monday after a surge of 470.63 points or 1.60% to 29,950.44. The S&P 500 also notched up a new record high after moving 41.76 points or 1.16% higher to 3,626.91. The Nasdaq started the week up 94.84 points or 0.80% to 11,924.13, approaching its closing record of 12,056.44 set in September.