Oil prices have fallen below $100 a barrel and stock markets have risen on hopes that the US and Iran are inching closer to a peace deal.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were down 5.5% to just below $98 a barrel, the lowest levels in two weeks, with hopes that an agreement to end the US-Israeli war on Iran can be struck.

However, the US and Iran remain at odds over key issues such as Iran’s blockade of the strait of Hormuz. The strait’s de facto closure sent energy prices soaring after the US and Israel first launched missile strikes on Tehran on 28 February.