1. Scott Morrison is expected to announce changes to how the government responds to emergencies, including giving the Prime Minister the power to declare a national disaster and call for assistance from the Defence Force according to a report by The Australian. "I believe there is now a clear community expectation that the commonwealth should have the ability to respond in times of ­national emergencies and disasters," Morrison is set to tell the National Press Club.

2. Foreign Minister Marise Payne wrote on Twitter that, due to the coronavirus outbreak, Australians are being advised to "reconsider your need to travel" to China, with a specific "do not travel" warning in place for Hubei Province.

3. Previous virus epidemics have seen the S&P 500 fall between 5.8% during the Ebola virus outbreak in 2013-14 and 12.9% for the Zika virus outbreak in 2015-16 according to Citi's chief U.S. equity strategist, Tobias Levkovich.

4. Buy now, pay later companies such as Afterpay and Zip Pay would be required to cap late fees and screen customers more strictly under a new code of practice drafted by the Australian Financial Industry Association, the AFR reported.

5. After a negative start to the week, Wall Street stocks rebounded on Tuesday. The Dow Jones moved 187.05 points or 0.66% higher to 28,722.85, the S&P 500 gained 32.61 points or 1.01% to 3,276.24 and the Nasdaq rose 130.37 points or 1.43% to 9,269.68.