Australian and Japanese and stock futures jumped as European banks hurdled the stress test reducing uncertainties of the global economic recovery as a whole.

American depositary receipts of Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-biggest mining company, gained 1 percent after metal prices increased. ADRs of camera maker Canon Inc., which gets about 80 percent of its revenue outside Japan, jumped 1.6 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. Those of Sony Corp. on the other hand, rose 0.8 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the Japanese electronics maker returned to profit in the first quarter.

Futures on Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.9 percent today. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index gained 0.4 percent in Wellington.

Futures on Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in September closed at 9,505 in Chicago on July 23, compared with 9,435 in Singapore. They were bid in the pre-market at 9,510 in Osaka, Japan, at 8:05 a.m. local time.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 0.1 percent today. In New York, the S&P 500 Index advanced 0.8 percent to 1,102.66 on July 23 after speculation that a biotechnology firm Genzyme Corp. may be bought and acquisitions are again accelerating. Meantime, General Electric Co. boosted its dividend.

Daiwa Securities in Tokyo said in a briefing paper that the prospect that European banks will have to raise less capital raised the positive sentiments among investors.

EU banks struggling

Earlier reports indicated that European regulators found that seven banks need to raise a combined 3.5 billion euros ($4.5 billion) of capital. Germany's Hypo Real Estate Holding AG, Agricultural Bank of Greece SA and five Spanish savings banks didn't have adequate reserves to maintain a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6 percent in the event of a recession and sovereign-debt crisis, lenders and regulators said on July 23.