Stocks inch higher as oil jumps

By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK — Investors' optimism about the nation's banks wavered Wednesday, erasing most of a big early advance, but energy stocks showed some of the biggest gains after oil topped $62 a barrel for the first time since November.
Financials turned mixed after enthusiasm about Bank of America's ability to raise billions of dollars by selling stock couldn't erase fears that banks are still a long way from scrubbing all the stains off their balance sheets.

Bank of America's stock sale puts it more than halfway toward raising the $33.9 billion in capital the government is requiring as a result of its stress test of 19 big banks. The company already raised $7.3 billion from the sale of a business in Asia since the government issued its report cards for banks on May 7.