1. Vaccine rollout plans announced

Residents and workers from over 250 aged care facilities will begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines from next Tuesday, with 60,000 doses expected to be administered by the end of the month according to Health Minister Greg Hunt. 142,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in Sydney yesterday.

2. BHP delivers record interim dividend

BHP has reported a 16% increase in its underlying attributable profit to US$6.0 billion in the half year to 31 December 2020 and declared a record interim dividend of US$1.01 per share. "Our operations generated robust cash flows, return on capital employed increased to 24 per cent and our balance sheet remains strong with net debt at the bottom of our target range," said BHP CEO Mike Henry, adding that the record dividend brings shareholder returns "to more than US$30 billion over the past three years".

3. Japan's Nikkei 225 passes 30,000 for the first time in 30 years

Following strong results during earnings season and a reported annualised GDP growth of 12.7% in the final quarter of last year, Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose by 564.08 or 1.91% on Monday to rise above 30,000 for the first time since December 1989.

4. A cold winter in Texas

Temperatures in parts of Texas have dropped to as low as 0°F (-18°C) as the US state sees one of its coldest winters in decades due to an "arctic blast". Dallas was expected to reach a high of 14°F (-10°C) on Monday compared to its typical temperature of around 59°F (15°C).

5. Wall Streets gets off to a positive start

All three major indexes in the US started the week in the positive. The Dow Jones rose by 27.70 points or 0.09% to 31,458.40, the S&P 500 gained 18.45 points or 0.47% to 3,934.83 and the Nasdaq moved 69.70 points or 0.50% higher to 14,095.47.