Oil prices resumed their downward spiral in Asia Thursday after rallying in the previous session on bargain-buying, while the dollar recovered after plunging in New York in reaction to disappointing US retail sales data.

Oil prices resumed their downward spiral in Asia Thursday after rallying in the previous session on bargain-buying, while the dollar recovered after plunging in New York in reaction to disappointing US retail sales data.

Most regional markets enjoyed a pick-up following recent losses, with Mumbai boosted by a surprise interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India and Tokyo boosted by a weaker yen.

Shanghai and Hong Kong was also supported by speculation Chinese leaders are taking measures to increase liquidity in financial markets in a bid to boost lending.

Crude enjoyed a rare five percent rally on Wednesday after plunging close to six-year lows, with analysts saying a pick-up had been expected after the commodity had crashed more than 50 percent since June.

"Just so much of the bearish news has been priced in, it's just overdue for a correction," said John Kilduff, founding partner at hedge fund Again Capital.

However, the two main contracts retreated again Thursday as dealers digested news that US stockpiles had risen, adding to long-running concerns about a supply glut and weak demand.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for February delivery lost 70 cents to $47.78 and Brent fell 116 cents to $47.53.

In share trading Tokyo rose 1.84 percent, or 312.74 points, to end at 17,108.70 as the dollar recovered against the yen after taking a hit in New York, while Shanghai surged 3.54 percent, or 114.02 points, to end at 3,336.46.

Seoul was marginally higher, adding 0.48 points to close at 1,914.14 but Sydney lost 0.41 percent, or 22.2 points, to finish at 5,331.4.

Hong Kong jumped 0.53 percent, or 238.31 points, to end at 24,350.91, while in late trade Mumbai was up 2.45 percent.

Regional traders were given a negative lead from Wall Street, where the losses in crude mixed with figures showing a surprise 0.9 percent fall in US retail sales in December.

The Dow fell 1.06 percent, the S&P 500 shed 0.58 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.48 percent -- marking a fourth-straight day of losses for US markets.