US stocks continue record rally as jobless claims fall to pandemic-era low

• US stocks moved higher on Thursday as jobless claims hit another pandemic-era low.
• Filings for unemployment insurance fell to 269,000 last week, better than estimates of 275,000.
• The record rally in stocks comes after the Fed announced plans to taper its monthly bond purchases.

The record rally in US stocks continued on Thursday after last week's jobless claims hit another pandemic-era low of 269,000, better than the 275,000 estimate.

Continuing claims slid to 2.11 million for the week that ended October 23, also beating forecasts. The solid figures comes as hiring once again picks up in the hospitality sector.

The move higher in stocks also comes after the Fed announced plans to taper its bond purchasing program by $15 billion per month, putting it on track to end the purchases altogether by June of next year.

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

• S&P 500: 4,659.75, up 0.17%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 36,038.00, up 0.01%
• Nasdaq Composite: 16,179.00, up 0.31%

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest sold nearly 4 million shares of Zillow on Wednesday after the real estate company plunged 25% on its departure from the home-flipping business.

Shiba Inu fell 14% on Thursday as the second-biggest whale wallet moved $2.3 billion of the tokens to multiple wallets.

The Bank of England held interest rates at record lows on Thursday despite previously hinting at a potential hike to combat rising inflation.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 2.96% to $83.18 per barrel ahead of a monthly OPEC+ meeting. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 2.90% to $84.37 per barrel.

Gold climbed as much as 1.67% to $1,793.30 per ounce.