Shares of airlines such as American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O and Spirit Airlines Inc SAVE.N were higher. By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed in afternoon trading on Wednesday, led by gains in the Nasdaq as investors were optimistic ahead of an inflation report that could give the Federal Reserve room to dial back on its aggressive interest rate hikes. The much-anticipated report due on Thursday is projected by economists polled by Reuters to show U.S. consumer prices likely grew 6.5% year-on-year in December, moderating from a 7.1% rise in November.