Oil prices settled lower Monday on a stronger United States dollar and uncertainty over a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in China over the weekend.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell more than 3 percent to below $86 a barrel Monday compared with their daily highs of almost $90 per barrel.
Investors also feared weak demand after the US Federal Reserve signaled another rate hike despite better-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released last week.
Last week, the US CPI, which measures changes in the prices of goods and services from the perspective of consumers, signaled a slowdown in inflation, giving hope to investors that the Fed may ease up on interest rate hikes in the coming months.