Markets gain as Spain plan lifts multinationals

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology and industrial shares boosted Wall Street on Wednesday as Spain unveiled an austerity plan that further eased jitters over euro-zone debt woes.

Investors have been worried that a sovereign debt crisis in Greece could spill over to other nations with high debt loads, including Spain.

Spain unveiled a plan on Wednesday to slash civil service pay and cut public sector jobs, days after a 750 billion euro ($1 trillion) bailout package to stem the debt crisis, cheering investors.

"Things in Europe look a lot better than they did two weeks ago, and that bodes well for global trade and multinational sectors like tech and industrials," said Douglas Peta, an independent market strategist in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> jumped 84.79 points, or 0.79 percent, at 10,833.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 8.33 points, or 0.72 percent, at 1,164.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 28.91 points, or 1.22 percent, at 2,404.22.

International Business Machines Corp was the top boost on the Dow, adding 2.5 percent to $130.11, while Intel Corp was the biggest percentage gainer on the Dow and the most active stock on the Nasdaq, up 2.3 percent at $22.79.

Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc jumped 1.7 percent to $67.24.

Also lifting tech shares, Fidelity National Information Services Inc jumped 3.7 percent to $29.89 after a source said a private equity group was negotiating an acquisition potentially worth about $15 billion.

Dow component Walt Disney Co fell 0.3 percent to $35.66 a day after second-quarter earnings beat expectations but analysts said results at its television networks division were disappointing.

Also on the earnings front, Macy's Inc swung to a first-quarter profit and affirmed its outlook, but said it was "premature" to raise the forecast again for now, "given the macro-economic uncertainty." Its shares rose 1.3 percent lower to $24.21.

Also on the downside, Morgan Stanley fell 3.2 percent to $27.48 after the Wall Street Journal reported U.S. officials were probing whether it mislead investors about mortgage derivative products it helped create. The chief executive said he had no knowledge of any federal investigation.

On the economic front, the U.S. trade deficit widened in March to its highest level in more than a year as both imports and exports rose in a sign of improved U.S. and foreign demand.

"This is good news since it suggests the consumer is doing a lot better than some had feared, though obviously we don't want these imbalances forever," Peta said.

Materials shares also were up as the price of gold surged to a record high of $1,244.45 an ounce, a gain of nearly 20 percent since early February.

The PHLX gold and silver index <.XAU> rose 1 percent, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc gained 2.4 percent to $71.89.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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