1. Forecast budget deficit falls by $53 billion

The Australian has reported that the budget deficit for 2020-21 to be announced today will be $161 billion, almost $53 billion less than the previously forecasted deficit of $213.7 billion from the October budget. $2.3 billion of funding for mental health will form part of tonight's budget focussed on services and jobs, dubbed 'Securing Australia's Recovery' according to the report.

2. ASX breaks pre-COVID record

The S&P/ASX 200 rose by 92.00 points or 1.30% on Monday to close above the previous record close of 7,162.50 set on February 20, 2020. The index remained just below its current intraday record of 7,197.20 also set on February 20 last year, and is expected to ease back from record highs today based on the lead in from Wall Street overnight.

3. WHO classifies Indian coronavirus variant as a 'variant of concern'

The World Health Organization has announced that the B.1617 coronavirus variant first identified in India late last year has been reclassified from a "variant of interest" to a "variant of concern". "Even though there is increased transmissibility demonstrated by some preliminary studies, we need much more information about this virus variant in this lineage in all of the sub lineages, so we need more sequencing, targeted sequencing to be done," said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for COVID-19.

4. US$500 million superyacht being built for Jeff Bezos

A 127-metre long superyacht expected to cost more than US$500 million ($638 million) is being built in the Netherlands for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos according to Bloomberg. The superyacht is reportedly so big that it requires a 'support yacht' with a helipad.

5. Dow falls at end of session as Nasdaq drops more than 2.5%

The Dow Jones was on track to reach a record-high for the fourth consecutive session before the index fell into the negative in the last five minutes of Monday's trading session, ending the day down 34.94 points or 0.10% to 34,742.82. The S&P 500 fell 44.17 points or 1.04% to 4,188.43, while the Nasdaq dropped 350.38 points or 2.55% to 13,401.86, dragged down by big tech drops including a 6.44% fall for Tesla and a 4.11% decline for Facebook.