Stocks open higher, Delta leads gains in travel companies

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are managing to post modest gains in the early going on Wall Street Wednesday. Airlines and other travel-related companies were leading the way higher after Delta Air Lines said it was seeing a surge in bookings. The S&P 500 added 0.3%. The benchmark index is coming off three straight losses brought on by persistent worries about inflation and the tough medicine the Federal Reserve is planning to use against it, higher interest rates. A report on inflation came in hotter than economists expected. Surging energy costs pushed wholesale prices up a record 11.2% last month from a year earlier.