Asia markets rally, oil extends gains as dollar eases

Oil extended the previous day's rally and Asian stocks surged Thursday while the dollar held most of its losses as the turmoil on global markets lowers expectations the US will hike interest rates again this year. Energy firms, for so long beaten down by the collapse in commodities, led gains as fresh hopes for talks between Russia and OPEC on cutting output lit a fire under crude prices. The gains are the latest in a volatile cycle that has characterised the start of 2016 as traders fret over t