U.S. stocks added to gains in afternoon trading on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq up about 2 percent and the S&P 500 rising more than 1 percent.

Stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data and signs that officials were moving to prop up struggling European banks reassured nervous investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 89.16 points, or 0.82 percent, at 10,897.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 13.47 points, or 1.20 percent, at 1,137.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> jumped 46.19 points, or 1.92 percent, at 2,451.01, after rising more than 2 percent.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)