Bank and thrift stocks were in in morning tradingFriday, July 8, amid news that U.S. employment shot up in June, beatingexpectations.

Total nonfarm employment rose by in June, according to the latestEmployment Situation report from the U.S. Labor Department. The nonfarmunemployment rate rose slightly to 4.9%.

According to Econoday data made available by Bloomberg, theconsensus estimate called for the creation of 180,000 jobs in the month.

Around midday, the SNL U.S. Bank Index rose 1.94% to 384.70and the SNL U.S. Thrift Index increased 1.24% to 783.53. Thebroader markets also moved higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Averageadvancing 1.09% to 18,090.94, the S&P 500 climbing 1.28% to 2,124.70 andthe Nasdaq composite index rising 1.45% to 4,947.65.

Among large-cap banks, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 2.29% to $61.97,Wells Fargo & Co.gained 2.12% to $47.79, Bank ofAmerica Corp. climbed 1.73% to $13.24 and rose 1.74% to $42.01.

Cathay GeneralBancorp rose 4.94% to $28.70 around midday, following news that thecompany agreed to acquire Los Angeles-based SinoPac Bancorp, a unit of , for in a90%-cash-and-10%-stock transaction.

Among notable movers, San Juan, Puerto Rico-based jumped 6.50% to $4.26;Dallas-based Texas CapitalBancshares Inc. went up 4.20% to $46.86; and McLean, Va.-basedCapital One FinancialCorp. climbed 4.28% to $64.54.

In the thrift space, Westbury, N.Y.-based tickedup 1.30% to $14.86; San Diego-based BofI Holding Inc. advanced 3.89% to $17.91; LakeSuccess, N.Y.-based AstoriaFinancial Corp. inched up 1.41% to $15.08; and Cleveland-basedTFS Financial Corp.(MHC) increased 1.11% to $17.38.

Market prices andindex values are current as of the time of publication and are subject tochange.