UPDATE 1-Much of Raymond James auction-rate suit dismissed

* $330 billion market froze in February 2008

* Judge finds no fraudulent intent in marketing (Adds Raymond James comment)

NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A federal judge has dismissed most of a class-action lawsuit accusing the brokerage Raymond James Financial Inc (RJF.N) of fraudulently misleading clients into believing that auction-rate securities were as safe as cash.

The ruling released Thursday by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan is the latest in litigation against financial companies arising from a February 2008 freeze in what had been a $330 billion auction-rate debt market.

Kaplan said the plaintiffs, who were Raymond James clients, failed to sufficiently allege that the brokerage acted with fraudulent intent in marketing the debt.

He allowed a claim by plaintiff Jonathan Gold, who said his broker should have told him in January 2008 before he bought the debt that there was only an "appearance of a liquid market" by then because of extensive dealer intervention. That intervention stopped the next month, causing the freeze.

Kaplan in 2009 had dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit but gave the plaintiffs a chance to file it again.

Aaron Sheanin, a partner at Girard Gibbs LLP who represents Gold and lead plaintiff Laurie Rubin, said he was reviewing the ruling and would evaluate options with his clients.

"Raymond James is pleased with the judge's decision to dismiss most of the allegations completely and severely limit the scope of the remaining claims," spokeswoman Anthea Penrose said in an emailed statement.

The St. Petersburg, Florida-based company expects to prevail on remaining claims, she added.

Raymond James ended June with 4,739 financial advisers in the United States and more than 5,300 overall.

Financial companies have agreed to buy back more than $60 billion of auction-rate debt in a series of settlements with regulators including New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

The case is Defer LP v. Raymond James Financial Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-03449. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Tim Dobbyn)