U.S. stock futures rose, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rebound from two straight weeks of losses, after financial regulators said the nation’s major banks are more than well capitalized. Bank of America Corp. climbed 14 percent, Citigroup Inc. jumped 12 percent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. added 5 percent after bank regulators said the U.S. stand “firmly behind” the banking system and has a “strong presumption” for banks to stay private. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. advanced as oil prices rose. Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in March rose 1.1 percent to 777.7 as of 8:34 a.m. in New York. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.8 percent to 7,410 after the index dropped to a six-year low on Feb. 20. Nasdaq-100 Index futures climbed 1 percent to 1,183. Financial regulators said they will begin examining whether banks have enough capital to survive a deeper economic slump this week. Banks that need additional funds after the so-called stress tests and cannot raise the money from private investors will be able to tap additional taxpayer funds, the regulators said in a statement. Government funds would be in the form of “mandatory convertible preferred shares” that would be exchanged into common equity “only as needed.” The S&P 500 last week extended its worst start to a year to 15 percent as President Barack Obama failed to assuage investors by approving a $787 billion economic stimulus plan that combines tax breaks and government spending meant to resuscitate the moribund U.S. economy. Homebuilders and banks retreated even after Obama announced a plan to stem home foreclosures. Stocks in Asia and Europe rose today, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index increasing 0.3 percent and the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index gaining 0.5 percent.

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