Oil prices finish higher after Iran deal

Oil prices rose Tuesday as markets weighed the effects of Iran's deal with six world powers on curbing the Islamic republic's suspected ambitions for a nuclear bomb. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery gained 84 cents at $53.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. "I think people had already sold down the price of oil, expecting an agreement," said Michael Lynch, an analyst with the US-based consultancy Strategic Energy & Economic Research.