Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty called on Europe to conduct more such tests and to reveal the results, at least on a system-wide basis.
But Europe's leading powers are divided on publishing results of their tests, which are run by different regulators using different methods, and there was no mention of stress tests in the G8 communique.
French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said the Europeans would 'explain nicely to the Americans' that there would be no quick consensus on stress tests.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Flaherty said he had become 'much less frustrated' at the Europeans' stance, but added that differences of opinion remained.
'As the economy improves, enthusiasm for international cooperation seems to abate faster than financial market tensions,' Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit Group, said in a report on the meeting.
The communique identified volatile commodity prices as a major threat to economies; crude oil has jumped nearly 75 percent since the end of February, even though it remains about 50 percent down from last year's record peak.
Ministers from both France and Italy blamed much of the volatility on speculators, in the same way that they blamed financial speculation last year for worsening the credit crisis.
'Speculation is coming back, a certain type of finance is raising its head again and doing the same not very nice things it was doing until last summer,' Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti told reporters.
At the instigation of the Italians, the G8 ministers released a set of principles and standards for the conduct of business globally, calling for more information and protection for investors, tighter regulation, and a stronger sense of commercial ethics.
'The breadth and intensity of the prolonged downturn have revealed the importance of strengthening our commitment to standards of propriety, integrity and transparency,' said a summary of the principles, to be called the 'Lecce Framework'. -- REUTERS