US benchmarks on the up at lunch; Eli Lilly top S&P riser

12.15pm: US stocks head north US benchmarks were on the up at lunch as global equity markets shrugged off worries about inflation and interest rate rises. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added almost 230 points at 34,105, while the S&P 500 advanced around 22 at 4,264. The Nasdaq index added over 126 points at 14,398. In London, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged despite raising expectations for inflation, while disappointing US jobs and goods data appeared to ease worries about the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy. "Despite disappointing initial jobless claims and core durable goods figures, markets are clearly treating bad news as good news given the impact it could have in delaying any monetary tightening," said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at online trading firm IG in a note.#] Among top rising stocks was Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), after it announced that the US FDA had granted 'Breakthrough Therapy' status for donanemab - the company's investigational antibody therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Shares in the pharma giant surged almost 7% higher at US$232.03. 9.50am: Proactive North America headlines: Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp (CVE:LIT) (OTCMKTS:PNXLF) (FRA:OAY3) appoints John Gammon to board of directors Plurilock Security Inc (CVE:PLUR) (OTCQB:PLCKF) awarded a US$190,000 contract with a US federal agency BetterLife Pharma Inc (CSE:BETR) (OTCQB:BETRF) (FRA:NPAU) awarded funding from Mitacs Accelerate program for research on LSD to treat depression LexaGene Holdings Inc (OTCQB:LXXGF) (CVE:LXG) (FRA:5XS2) sells its MiQLab diagnostic testing system to Meridian Veterinary Capital in Dallas Golden Arrow Resources Resources Corporation (CVE:GRG) (OTCQB:GARWF) poised for first drilling at Rosales copper project in Chile after TEM survey Silver Range Resources Ltd (CVE:SNG) (OTCMKTS:SLRRF) (FRA:8SR) options Legal Tender property in Nevada to QLM Royston Hills Idaho Champion Gold Mines Canada Inc (CSE:ITKO) (OTCQB:GLDRF) (FRA:1QB1) says induced polarization survey is now underway Else Nutrition Holdings Inc (CVE:BABY) (OTCMTKS:BABYF) (FRA:0YL) protein shakes for kids are #1 and #2 best-sellers on Amazon's hot new releases Jack Nathan Health (CVE:JNH) (OTCQB:JNHMF) taps Michael A Pangia as strategic advisor as it eyes rapid business expansion Mydecine Innovations Group (NEO:MYCO) (OTCMKTS:MYCOF) (FRA:0NFA) selects substance use disorder and smoking cessation for its psychedelic molecule MYCO-004 First Cobalt Corp (CVE:FCC) (OTCQX:FTSSF) (FRA:18P) kicks off a well-funded exploration program at its Iron Creek project in Idaho Aurelius Minerals Inc (CVE:AUL) (OTCMKTS:AURQF) (FRA:1GA) increases size of mineralized system with Phase 1 drilling at its Aureus East project 9.37am: Wall Street starts on front foot The main indices on Wall Street have started Thursday’s session on the front foot despite jobs data falling short of expectations. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.51% at 34,047 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.56% to 4,265 and the Nasdaq rose 0.64% to 14,363. The higher open came despite the latest weekly jobless figures, which fell by 7,000 to 411,000 last week but were still higher than the forecast figure of 380,000. The previous week's number was revised up from 412,000 to 418,000 while the four week moving average rose by 1,500 to 397,750. Meanwhile, orders for durable goods - long lasting items such as cars - rose by 2.3% in May to US$253.3bn after a dip in April. But again this was below the estimated 2.8% rise. 7:55am: Wall Street to start higher Wall Street is expected to open higher ahead of more key economic figures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to climb 0.5% or 180 points, while the S&P 500 is showing a 0.47% gain. The Nasdaq Composite, which hit another new peak on Wednesday, is indicated 0.56% higher. Among the data due, weekly jobless claims are forecast to drop to 380,000 after a surprise jump the previous week to 412,000. Sophie Griffiths at Oanda said: " Initial jobless claims are expected to resume the downtrend after an unexpected jump last week. Any sign of further weakness in the labour market recovery could drag the US dollar lower." Durable goods orders for May are likely to show a pick-up following a fall in April, when the global semiconductor shortage caused backlogs in the automotive sector. Four things to watch for on Thursday: Big names in the earnings calendar today include sportswear firm Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), consultancy firm Accenture PLC (LON:ACN) and parcel delivery firm FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX) Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI) will be of interest after it reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat estimates Forex markets may also be of interest after the pound slipped following the Bank of England’s latest decision on interest rates On the macro front, aside from jobless claims and durable goods, investors may also be keeping an eye on the US final GDP reading