GLOBAL MARKETS - Asian stocks, dollar gain; Sony jumps 9 pct

By Rafael Nam

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian shares and the dollar rose on Thursday after investors welcomed benign U.S. inflation data as a sign the Federal Reserve will have more wiggle room to deal with the downturn in the world's biggest economy.

Improving earnings prospects also comforted markets. Japan's Sony Corp surged 9 percent a day after it issued a surprisingly upbeat operating profit forecast despite the challenges posed by a slowing U.S. economy and a stronger yen.

Oil prices retreated from record levels, easing some of the inflation fears that have hit Asian stocks this month, and encouraging investors to sell their safe bond holdings to bet on riskier assets.

"There is certainly positive momentum in the market," said Lucinda Chan, division director at Macquarie Equities in Sydney.

"I think that despite all the uncertainty, these are often very good times for investments and people are beginning to sense that mood now," she said.

A rally in Asian stocks last month fizzled when May started with it a surge in oil prices to record highs that reinforced fears the world economy could face a crippling combination of high inflation and meagre growth.

The MSCI index for Asian stocks outside Japan rose 0.5 percent as of 0215 GMT, up some 18 percent since the mid-March lows but down about 7 percent for the year.

The gains matched Walls Street's advance after data on Wednesday showed U.S. consumer prices rose a 0.2 percent in April, less than expected.