Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Wednesday as investors reviewed the latest round of corporate earnings and an upbeat report from Delta Air Lines that bodes well for the travel industry. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% and the Nasdaq rose 2%. Travel-related companies had some of the biggest gains. The S&P 500 is coming off three straight losses brought on by persistent worries about inflation and how the Federal Reserve will respond to it. The government reported that surging energy costs pushed wholesale prices up a record 11.2% last month from a year earlier.
