Oil prices fell ⁠1% as market participants continued to weigh a pause in U.S. strikes on Iran, which has raised hope of a diplomatic solution to ‌their conflict and the normalisation of Middle East energy flows.

Brent crude futures were down $0.54, or 0.6%, at $87.82 by ‌0046 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $81.95 a ‌barrel, ⁠down $0.66, or 0.8%.

Both contracts fell 1% earlier in ⁠the session to their lowest level in more than a week.

-Reuters

The dollar slumped against its major peers at the start of Asian trading on Monday after the U.S. paused its ‌bombing campaign in Iran during the weekend, prompting a drop in oil prices and boosting ⁠global investor confidence.

Against the yen, the U.S. dollar was down 0.2% at 163.585 yen, its biggest decline since July 10. ‌The euro was up 0.2% at $1.1397, while the British pound rose by a similar magnitude to $1.3353.

Oil ‌prices sank in early Asian trade, with ‌Brent ⁠crude tumbling 4.7% to $92.19 after the U.S. military temporarily ⁠halted its two-week long strikes. Iran will halt its own attacks as long as the U.S. does the same, a senior Iranian official told Reuters ‌on Sunday, following a China-led push to resume stalled diplomatic efforts in Pakistan to end the war.

– Reuters