* Resource shares rise with commodity prices
* Kraft bid for Cadbury raises M&A hopes
* Dow up 0.5 pct, S&P up 0.7 pct, Nasdaq up 0.5 pct
(Updates to midmorning)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday as natural resource shares rose alongside commodities and Kraft's bid for Cadbury buoyed hopes that more merger and acquisition activity was on the horizon.
Kraft Foods Inc
"You get some M&A activity, and the market perceives that as potentially the start of more," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San Francisco.
M&A activity can be a signal to the market that some shares are considered inexpensive.
"It's been talked about a lot that as you come out of the bottom of a recession, (you should see) those that are in good shape gobbling up those that are struggling," Pado said.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 45.72 points, or 0.48 percent, to 9,486.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 7.06 points, or 0.69 percent, to 1,023.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> put on 10.35 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,029.13.
Energy shares led the S&P 500 higher as oil futures
Newmont Mining Corp
Health insurance stocks <.HMO> fell 0.3 percent ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's address to Congress on Wednesday. He is expected to outline his proposed revamp of the healthcare system.
Shares of General Electric Co
Shares of iPod maker Apple Inc
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)