U.S. Stocks Erase Gains as Banks Drop

U.S. stocks swung between gains and losses, after erasing an early rally, as banks slid amid concern that Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. lost at least 1.7 percent. Occidental Petroleum Corp. fell 1.9 percent, pacing declines in energy companies as oil tumbled.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost less than 0.1 percent to 1,208.9 at 11;09 a.m. New York time after climbing as much as 0.9 percent earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 12.11 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,445.29.

“It’s going to be an ongoing struggle with the European debt situation,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which manages $54 billion, said in a telephone interview. “We need an actual institution of the policy for the markets to grind higher. The delay to enact it means that we’re going to be subject to this ongoing debate among European policy makers about what to do and what not to do. That’s going to lead to further turbulence.”