Wall Street gains on moves to rescue Spanish banks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday on signs of urgent moves in Europe to rescue Spain's troubled banks, but comments from the European Central Bank president disappointed a market hoping for further stimulus to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis.

Resisting international pressure to provide more support for the euro zone's ailing economy, the ECB held its main interest rate at 1 percent.

"I don't think it would be right for monetary policy to fill other institutions' lack of action," said ECB President Mario Draghi, suggesting there would be no more long-term lending to banks unless governments come up with solutions.

Germany and European Union officials are urgently exploring ways to rescue Spain's banks, although Madrid has not yet requested assistance and is resisting political conditions, several EU sources said on Wednesday.

Stocks also gained as investors snapped up beaten down stocks from last week's steep decline that pushed the S&P 500 below its 200-day moving average.

"Although our cyclical indicators suggest that it is likely that market conditions get worse in the coming months before they get better, we are seeing near-term evidence of bearish exhaustion that could lead to a counter trend bounce," said Ari Wald, a technical analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 86.81 points, or 0.72 percent, at 12,214.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 9.36 points, or 0.73 percent, at 1,294.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 23.86 points, or 0.86 percent, at 2,801.97.

Investors will get a detailed look at the state of the economy from the Federal Reserve's Beige Book of regional economic conditions due at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will also testify on the economy before a congressional committee on Thursday.

Nonfarm productivity fell more than expected in the first quarter as companies gave more hours to employees but only modestly expanded output.

Facebook Inc is making it easier for advertisers to reach the growing ranks of users on smartphones and mobile devices, taking a significant step toward addressing one of investors' most pressing concerns and broadening its appeal to marketers. The stock rose 1.9 percent to $26.35.

Shares of Tempur-Pedic International Inc. fell 41 percent to $25.88 after revising its full year forecast.

(Reporting By Angela Moon, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Padraic Cassidy)