Asian stocks gained early on Friday, after the markets were given some breathing space when the European Central Bank hinted of more monetary policy easing, while crude oil extended an overnight rally. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) bounced 3 percent to move away from a 15-month low struck Thursday and Australian shares (.AXJO) rose 0.9 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.9 percent.