* AIG jumps 11 percent after 1st profit in seven qtrs
* Stocks up; S&P, Dow by 0.8 pct, Nasdaq 0.7 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Updates to mid-morning)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Friday
after the government reported fewer workers lost jobs in July
than expected, fueling hopes of an economic recovery and
providing solid footing for a recent market run-up.
All three major indexes rose more than 1 percent after
closing lower Thursday, when investors trimmed long positions
in risky assets, including stocks, before the payrolls report.
Among top advancers, embattled insurer American
International Group Inc <AIG.N> jumped 11 percent to $25 after
reporting its first profit in seven quarters.
Investors are keen for any signs of a recovering AIG, which
was rescued by U.S. taxpayers during the financial crisis. At
Thursday's close, the stock was up nearly 70 percent since the
beginning of the week.
The Labor Department said U.S. employers cut 247,000
non-farm jobs in July, far less than the 320,000 expected and
the smallest decline in a year, suggesting the recession was
abating.
The July unemployment rate eased to 9.4 percent from 9.5
percent in the prior month, the first time the rate had fallen
since April 2008. (For details, see [])
"The data was a beat on many different numbers, including
manufacturing and average work week. It shows that not only are
people losing less jobs, but the trend of cutting back working
hours has changed," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co, in San Francisco.
"It gives you confidence that if you have a job, you will
be able to keep it and you will be able to work more hours,
giving a better outlook of the rest of the year."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 75.50
points, or 0.82 percent, at 9,331.76. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> was up 7.94 points, or 0.80 percent, at 1,005.02.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 14.31 points, or 0.73
percent, at 1,987.47.
Among Nasdaq advancers, graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp
<NVDA.O> rose 5.6 percent to $13.86 a day after after reporting
a smaller quarterly loss and setting a third-quarter sales
outlook above expectations. []
CIT Group Inc <CIT.N> jumped 3 percent to $1.67 after the
troubled lender reported progress on its restructuring plans.
It suspended payment of preferred dividends and said it had
completed a drawdown of its $3 billion secured credit facility.
[]
The broad S&P 500 is now up 48.4 percent from its 12-year
closing low in early March, driven by a string of economic
numbers suggesting a recovery and an earnings season with most
S&P 500 companies beating expectations.
(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
