NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Wednesday with both Nike and FedEx rising after earnings reports ahead of consumer confidence data for the important holiday-shopping season.

Sports giant Nike surged nearly 15 percent as it reported better-than-expected profits and described progress in selling off excess inventory.

Meanwhile, FedEx jumped 5.4 percent after announcing additional cost cuts as it contends with lackluster demand for delivery services.

Wall Street falls as recession worries persist

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.9 percent at 33,142.17.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to 3,848.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.6 percent to 10,607.22.

Major indices mostly rose on Tuesday, snapping a four-day slump following interest rate increases announced by the Federal Reserve and other central banks.

Markets are looking ahead to the 1500 GMT release of a consumer confidence survey for December, a critical period because of the holiday shopping season.