By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock markets worldwide rose modestly on Tuesday after a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and six global powers left sanctions on Iran in place for now, spurring gains in energy shares, while expectations for weak corporate results capped U.S. share gains.
Brent and U.S. crude reversed losses which came after the nuclear deal was reached. The deal, which is set to ease sanctions against Tehran and allow a gradual rise in its oil exports, had sent oil prices tumbling.
Brent crude was last up 59 cents, or 1.02 percent, at $58.44 a barrel. U.S. crude was last up 75 cents, or 1.44 percent, at $52.95 per barrel. The rebound helped the S&P energy index gain over 1 percent, while the STOXX 600 Europe Oil & Gas Index was last up nearly 0.9 percent.
"We had weakness in the oil market, but it?s not full-blown panic by any stretch of the imagination. That is reassuring," said Michael Jones, chief investment officer at RiverFront Investment Group in Richmond, Virginia.
Expectations for weak corporate earnings reports and data showing disappointing June retail sales in the United States, along with a decline in shares of carmakers in Europe, capped gains. The decline in carmakers occurred as JP Morgan cut forecasts for the Chinese auto market.
U.S. companies are expected to report their worst sales decline in nearly six years when they post second-quarter results, while earnings are expected to have fallen 2.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.
MSCI's all-country world stock index, which tracks shares in 45 nations, rose 1.5 points or 0.35 percent, to 428.69.
The Dow Jones industrial average was last up 48.24 points, or 0.27 percent, at 18,025.92. The S&P 500 was up 7.67 points, or 0.37 percent, at 2,107.27. The Nasdaq Composite was up 28.36 points, or 0.56 percent, at 5,099.87.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.46 percent, to 1,579.26.
U.S. Treasury yields, which move inversely to prices, edged lower after the unexpected drop in U.S. June retail sales added to speculation that tepid economic data may push back when the Federal Reserve is likely to begin raising interest rates.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were last up 6/32 in price to yield 2.4083 percent. The data increased focus on Fed chair Janet Yellen?s Humphrey-Hawkins testimony to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
"It certainly doesn?t help the cause. Everyone seemed to get a bit more bearish after Yellen made her comments on Friday, people are anticipating kind of the same tone going into tomorrow," said Tom Tucci, head of Treasuries trading at CIBC in New York.
The retail sales data also halted Monday's rally in the dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last down 0.16 percent at 96.705.
Gold prices steadied, recouping earlier losses, after the downbeat retail sales data. Spot gold prices were last down $1.785 at $1,155.82 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Nigel Stephenson in London, Michael Connor and Karen Brettell in New York, and Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
