THE Philippine peso strengthened against the United States dollar on Wednesday, finishing at P52.23 to $1, although an analyst warned that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict could generate further volatility.

From the previous day’s finish of P52.32:$1, the local currency gained 9 centavos.

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“The broad USD correction spilled over to the local pair and after five sessions of rapid gains market players were seen taking profit from their long USD positions,” Ruben Carlo Asuncion, chief economist of Union Bank of the Philippines, told The Manila Times.

The dollar-peso prices ultimately crumbled, he added, and prices plummeted to an intraday low of 52.01. Prices then progressively increased as the market re-established long dollar positions.

“We think that more volatility will persist if markets do not see any resolution soon, and along with volatility will be the weakness of the PHP,” Asuncion said.

He also noted that predicting how high global prices will continue is difficult, given that oil prices are one of the key determinants of dollar-peso pricing.

Oil prices continued to rise, reaching 14-year highs, Asuncion said, following news that the US and other European countries are considering slapping a ban on Russia crude oil imports.

“This has caused risk appetite to remain poor and strengthened safe haven assets like the USD. However, after several straight sessions of USD strength a bit of correction was seen in today’s session,” he stressed.