Dow soars 403 points as jobless claims hit pandemic low and banks deliver strong results

• US stocks climbed higher on Thursday as weekly jobless claims hit a pandemic-era low.
• Last week's claims of 293,000 represented the lowest level since March 2020.
• Strong results came in from US banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Citigroup.
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US stocks surged on Thursday after weekly jobless claims hit a pandemic-era low and third-quarter earnings results from banks beat expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by about 400 points.

Last week's jobless claims hits 293,000, representing the lowest level since March 2020 and beating economist expectations of 319,000. Continuing claims fell to 2.59 million, besting forecasts as well.

Strong bank earnings results from Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Citigroup beat analyst expectations and suggested consumers remain on solid footing as provisions for credit losses continued to fall from their pandemic heights. The banks were trading higher by about 2% early Thursday.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 4,405.28, up 0.95%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,781.50, up 1.17% (403.69)
• Nasdaq Composite: 14,707.29, up 0.91%

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest put its name behind a bitcoin futures ETF that was filed with the SEC on Wednesday, signalling that the futures-based crypto ETF may be eventually approved by the regulatory agency.

Citigroup saw its profits surge 48% in the third-quarter following the release of loss reserves and a strong period for equity and fixed income trading.

Bank of America beat its earning estimates for the third-quarter, as record-high advisory fees and a $1.1 billion reserve release helped boost profits.

Morgan Stanley posted a strong third-quarter earnings report as growth in its investment banking and wealth management divisions bested estimates.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as 0.92%, to $81.18 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, jumped 1.13%, to $84.12 per barrel.

Gold jumped as much as 0.23%, to $1,798.80 per ounce.