GLOBAL MARKETS-Equities advance as weaker dollar boosts oil

* Europe shares rise, but Credit Suisse (LSE: 0QP5.L - news) caps gains

* Dollar falls further vs major currencies

* Materials, energy lead U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . stocks higher (Adds open of U.S. markets, byline, dateline; previous LONDON)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Global equity markets rose on Thursday, as the dollar continued to weaken on diminished expectations of U.S. interest rate hikes this year, which in turned boosted the prices of oil and other commodities.

The dollar fell for a fourth day on the latest batch of soft U.S. data, while comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve policymaker on Wednesday were viewed as a sign further rate hikes could be delayed.

Dollar weakness, and unconfirmed talk that oil-producing countries in and outside the OPEC group may meet soon to discuss output cuts to help relieve a global supply glut, helped crude prices add to Wednesday's sharp gains.

"Obviously, there is concern about the Fed and what they are going to do with rates, but oil is number one at this point because we are starting to see the effect of lower oil," said Ian Kerrigan, global investment specialist at JPMorgan Private Bank in Seattle.

"It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 's the top priority of the markets right now, on a day-to-day basis."

The U.S. currency fell 0.7 percent against a basket of major currencies on Thursday and is down 3 percent for the week, on pace for its worst week since May 2009. It hit a 3-1/2 month low against the euro and held close to a two-week low against the Japanese yen.

Brent, the global benchmark, was down 0.8 percent at $34.77 a barrel, after hitting a high of $35.84 earlier in the day, while U.S. crude was up 0.76 percent at $32.46.

The fall in the dollar also helped push metals higher, with copper and zinc both up more than 1.5 percent. In turn, that lifted emerging markets, whose economies are highly depending on commodities. The MSCI emerging markets index climbed 3 percent.

Commodity-related shares pushed higher in Europe, although gains were capped by a decline of more than 11 percent in Credit Suisse, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rising 0.35 percent. The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources Index surged 8.4 percent and the oil and gas index jumped 4.2 percent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 112.38 points, or 0.69 percent, to 16,449.04, the S&P 500 gained 10.13 points, or 0.53 percent, to 1,922.66 and the Nasdaq Composite added 24.11 points, or 0.54 percent, to 4,528.35.

Those gains were led by a 3.1 percent climb in the materials sector while the energy sector advanced 1.2 percent. The MSCI World equity index was up 1.1 percent.

Stocks globally have had a dismal start to 2016, smacked by tepid U.S. growth, falling oil prices, and concern the world faces a China-led slowdown.

However, another potential worry, that the U.S. Federal Reserve would stay on course for four interest rate hikes in 2016, has eased somewhat.

Fed policymaker William Dudley told Market News International in an interview published on Wednesday that monetary conditions had tightened since the Fed raised rates on Dec. 3. and rate-setters would have to take this into account.

Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields edged down 1/32 basis point to 1.886 percent.

Gold (Other OTC: GDCWF - news) , was last up 0.7 percent at $1,150.96 after hitting a three-month high at $1,156.60 an ounce. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)