US STOCKS-Wall St lower on ECB resignation, Obama jobs plan

* European Cental Bank member Stark to step down

* President Obama lays out $447 billion jobs plan

* Bank of America discussing about 40,000 job cuts

* Indexes down: Dow 1.5 pct, S&P 1.2 pct, Nasdaq 0.8 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to open)

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent on Friday as the surprise resignation of a European Central Bank executive board member brought concerns over the region's debt back to the fore.

Investors also remained skeptical about how much of President Barack Obama's $447 billion proposal to generate U.S. jobs would make it through Congress. Obama on Thursday night challenged Congress to enact tax cuts and new spending to revive a stalled job market, but he faces an uphill fight to win over Republicans.

Finance chiefs from the Group of 7 richest nations are set to meet on Friday, and the group is under heavy pressure to take action to revive flagging economic growth and calm the biggest confidence crisis in financial markets since the global credit crunch. For details, see [ID:nN1E78728T]

"Europe is the No. 1 thing causing pressure on the market as the realization grows that what we've done so far hasn't worked," said Liz Ann Sonders, the New York-based chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab Corp.

"There was a lot in Obama's speech that sounded good, but considering all the uncertainty that exists, it didn't do much to move the needle," Sonders said.

ECB Executive Board Member Juergen Stark will step down from his post, the bank said on Friday, with two sources telling Reuters it was because of a conflict over the central bank's controversial bond-buying program.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 165.71 points, or 1.47 percent, at 11,130.10. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 14.06 points, or 1.19 percent, at 1,171.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 21.12 points, or 0.84 percent, at 2,508.02.

Bank of America Corp officials have discussed slashing roughly 40,000 jobs during the first wave of a restructuring, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the plans. The cuts aim to reduce the bank's workforce of 280,000 over a period of years, the Journal wrote.

Shares of the Dow component fell 1.3 percent to $7.11.

A number of brokerages, including Jefferies, cut price targets on Texas Instruments Inc after the company warned its third-quarter earnings and revenue would be worse than already low expectations. [ID:nN1E787113]

McDonald's Corp fell 4.2 percent after its August restaurant sales rose less than analysts expected. [ID:nN1E7860MC] (Editing by Padraic Cassidy)