Oil prices held on to three-month highs on Monday, underpinned by optimism over an expected China-U.S. trade deal and upbeat industrial data, while traders kept a close watch on the Middle East following U.S. air strikes in Iraq and Syria. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 0.18% at $68.28 a barrel, up 12 cents. The international benchmark has risen around 27% in 2019. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose one cent to $61.73 a barrel by 0940 GMT. The U.S. benchmark is up about 36% so far this year. “(Trading) has been relatively flat due to lack of market participants in the holiday season,” said market analyst Margaret Yang of CMC Markets. “Oil prices have reached their highest level since the Saudi oilfield attack […]