"News that Italy will accept new growth and austerity measures at least gets us on the right track and may yet be another reason for investors to pull the buy trigger this morning," said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at OptionsXpress.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's cabinet late on Sunday approved a law aimed at making sure Italy eliminates its budget deficit by 2013, including €17 billion ($22.8 billion) in new taxes, €13 billion in public spending cuts, and €10 billion in measures aimed at boosting economic growth.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi Composite added 0.2% and New Zealand's NZX-50 rise 0.3%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 64 points in screen trade.
Caution ahead of a Franco-German summit in Paris on Monday and a key two-day European Union summit starting on Thursday limited gains in Asian markets. Investors were also focused on the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday.
"There is a substantial precedent for expecting disappointment here given that the very nature of the crisis does not lend itself to a quick fix," said Stewart Hall, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets. Focus this week "will fall on how a 're-founded' Europe will look in terms of deeper integration and the push for fiscal union. The details of which may very well be lost on a market that continues to clamor for a quick fix."
In Tokyo, gains were led by major exporters. Canon rose 0.4%, Toyota Motor climbed 1.8% and Sony gained 0.6%. Resources plays were higher in Sydney amid a rise in precious metals prices. BHP Billiton advanced 1.5% and Rio Tinto added 0.3%.
Energy plays were higher across the region as calls for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program lifted crude oil prices. In Seoul, S-Oil Corp rose 0.9% and SK Innovation advanced 0.6%. In Sydney, Woodside Petroleum jumped 1.6% and Oil Search gained 1.4%, while Inpex added 1.0% in Tokyo.
In foreign exchange markets the euro was a touch higher against the U.S. dollar as the approval of budgetary measures in Italy boosted hopes that European leaders would make progress on containing the region's sovereign-debt crisis at a series of key meetings this week.
"Market expectations are for some real progress on how the (European Financial Stability Facility) will be expanded and agreement to push forward with fiscal integration," said BNZ FX Strategist Mike Burrowes.
The single currency was at $1.3407 against the dollar, from $1.3392 late on Friday in New York, and at ¥104.42 against the yen, from ¥104.40. The dollar was at ¥78.00, from ¥77.94.
Spot gold was at $1,750.20 per troy ounce, up $4.90 from its New York settlement on Friday. January Nymex crude oil futures were up 38 cents at $101.34 per barrel on Globex. Feel free to forward this Op Ed and follow our Blog stock market news today
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