Oil Prices Plunge Below $100 on Iran Deal Optimism

Oil prices plunged in early Asian trade on Monday following reports over the weekend that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages. At the time of writing, both oil benchmarks had fallen by more than 5%, with Brent breaking back below $100 to trade at $98.27, while WTI fell to $91.63. Optimism around a deal was tempered somewhat on Sunday when President Trump posted on social media that he had informed his representatives "not to rush into a deal". A senior U.S. administration official then added that, while progress had been…