Global stocks rally slightly

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global shares eked out gains on Tuesday after blowout results at Goldman Sachs boosted hope corporate earnings for the second quarter will prove strong, but oil prices fell on troubling signs of weak demand.

The yen fell and the U.S. dollar struggled against most major currencies as Goldman's earnings and U.S. retail sales in June surpassed expectations, stoking hopes for economic recovery and reducing flows into the dollar driven by risk aversion.

But traders were cautious before the release of earnings from other U.S. banks this week, while lacklustre sentiment data from Germany weighed on the euro.

The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond traded more than two points lower in price as a sell-off in government debt markets deepened on profit-taking from a monthlong rally.

Profits at Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) surged 33 percent as trading results nearly doubled, trouncing expectations and putting the bank on pace for windfall bonuses that could draw more unwanted public scrutiny.

But analysts said much of the day's news, including Goldman's profits, was already accounted for after optimism that banks' earnings will be stronger than anticipated lifted the major U.S. stock indexes more than 2.0 percent on Monday.

Investors were also cautious with other major companies set to post results later this week, including Bank of America (BAC.N) and General Electric (GE.N), and as doubts persisted about the economy.

Much of a 0.6 percent gain in U.S. retail sales was driven by higher gas prices, suggesting consumers remained wary of stepping up discretionary spending. Retail sales registered a fourth consecutive monthly decline.