Asian shares near five-and-a-half month highs on oil's rally

By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares held near 5-1/2-month highs on Thursday as oil prices rallied over 4 percent overnight thanks to a smaller than expected increase in U.S. crude inventories and abiding hopes that producers may eventually agree ways to ease a global glut. Wall Street shares ended less than 2 percent short of a record-high close on Wednesday as a rebound in oil prices added to optimism sparked by a raft of earnings reports. Oil prices surged on Wednesday and eventual