U.S. stocks were little changed

U.S. stocks were little changed as optimism among European leaders about a Greek bailout failed to drive the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index above last year’s peak.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos discussed efforts to secure a second bailout for Greece and are confident that euro-area finance ministers will “find a solution for open questions” on Feb. 20. The International Monetary Fund is expected to contribute 13 billion euros to a second Greek aid package worth 130 billion euros, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the

Dow 12,933.49 +29.41 +0.23%, Nasdaq 2,948.26 -11.59 -0.39%, S&P 500 1,359.16 +1.12 +0.08%

The KBW Bank Index of 24 stocks gained 0.7 percent. Wells Fargo & Co. added 1.8 percent to $30.91. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) advanced 0.9 percent to $38.34. Bank of America Corp. (BAC) lost 1.1 percent to $8.

H.J. Heinz gained 4.9 percent to $54.66. The company reported third-quarter earnings excluding some items of 95 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 85 cents.

Campbell Soup added 2.6 percent to $32.90. The company reported second-quarter earnings excluding some items of 64 cents a share. On average, the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated profit of 62 cents.

Gilead tumbled 15 percent to $46.64. Among eight patients with hepatitis C genotype 1 in a clinical trial, six had a viral relapse within four weeks after stopping a 12-week treatment with the medicine, GS-7977, plus ribavirin, Gilead said today in a statement. The two other patients are two weeks out from stopping treatment, and haven’t relapsed, the company said.