1. Australians paying back deferred loans

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority revealed by The Australian today shows that the number of housing loans deferred has fallen by 80% from 490,000 in May last year to about 100,000 as of the end of 2020. Deferred loans for small and medium businesses have also fallen from over 230,000 to about 20,000.

2. Pfizer may move vaccine manufacturing to the US

Pfizer said it would consider alternative options for manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine including shifting production to the United States if export restrictions are imposed by the European Union. Pfizer, which along with AstraZeneca has been struggling with production issues, is set to deliver 10 million doses to Australia.

3. GameStop drops 44% as brokers introduce restrictions

After a week of extreme volatility, including a share price increase of 130% yesterday, GameStop has closed down US$152.77 or 44.11% to US$193.60. US brokers Robinhood and Interactive Brokers announced restrictions on trading the stock, including limiting some investors to only be able to sell their positions.

4. Chimpanzee returns after escaping Sydney zoo enclosure

At Sydney's Taronga Zoo on Thursday, a chimpanzee that initially triggered an emergency response after a contractor spotted the chimp outside of its enclosure quickly made its own way back to its exhibit minutes later. "Taronga is pleased to report that all people and animals, including the adventurous chimp, are all safe," the Zoo said in a statement.

5. Wall Street bounces back

Following significant declines for the major US indexes on Wednesday, all three moved higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones rose by 300.19 points or 0.99% to 30,603.36, the S&P 500 gained 36.61 points or 0.98% to 3,787.38 and the Nasdaq lifted 66.56 points or 0.50% to 13,337.16.