The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.16 points (0.14 per cent) to 8,516.83 in opening trades after suffering triple-digit losses the past two days.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 3.05 points (0.17 per cent) to 1,799.23 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.40 point (0.04 per cent) to 912.37.

Market action began on Wednesday after the government reported that US consumer prices edged slightly higher in May after holding steady in April.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index (CPI) rose a modest 0.1 per cent from April, according to seasonally adjusted data. The price rise was less than most analysts' expectations of a 0.3 per cent gain. Overall CPI was unchanged in April after slipping 0.1 per cent in March.

Analysts at Charles Schwab & Co. said the market was digesting the 'tame' inflation report, which they said was 'helping soothe some concerns about the health of the economic recovery that were stoked by FedEx's disappointing sales and guidance.'

Although the package delivery company topped the earnings consensus estimate for its fiscal fourth quarter ending May 31, its guidance for the fiscal first quarter fell well short of the current consensus estimate, analysts said.

FedEx, regarded a market bellwether, reported on Wednesday an US$876 million (S$1.3 billion) quarterly loss and warned of lower earnings in the next quarter amid a recession.

'FedEx said it thinks the worst of the recession is behind it, but that the operating environment in the first half of its fiscal year is expected to be extremely difficult,' said Briefing.com's Patrick O'Hare.

Mr Obama is expected to propose on Wednesday wide reforms that will see the Federal Reserve gain broad powers and a national bank supervisor created to avoid a repeat of the financial turmoil. -- AFP