New Delhi, 25 March (H.S.):

Hopes of peace returning to West Asia pushed international crude oil prices below the 100-dollar mark per barrel once again on Wednesday. According to Indian time at 10:15 am Brent crude traded at 99.17 dollars per barrel while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude stood at 88.51 dollars per barrel.

The previous trading day on Tuesday Brent crude had closed at 104.49 dollars per barrel. WTI crude wrapped up Tuesday at 92.35 dollars per barrel.

Brent crude opened todays session with nearly six percent weakness at 99.83 dollars per barrel. Shortly after trading began it dipped further to 97.18 dollars per barrel before rebounding briefly to 100.03 dollars per barrel. But it soon fell back below 100 dollars settling at 99.17 dollars per barrel by 10:15 am a drop of 5.11 percent.

WTI crude mirrored the trend with more than five percent decline on Wednesday. It started trading at 88.53 dollars per barrel slid to 86.72 dollars per barrel then bounced to 89.36 dollars per barrel. By 10:15 am WTI crude was at 88.51 dollars per barrel down 4.08 percent.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar