Kuala lumpur: The ringgit continued its bullish momentum to close higher against the US dollar on Thursday, as the US national debt, which surpassed US$40 trillion for the first time, weighed on the greenback. At 6 pm, the ringgit strengthened 140 percentage in points (pips) to 4.0425/0470 against the US dollar from Wednesday's close of 4.0565/0610.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid highlighted that the size of US public debt has recently come into focus. The US Treasury Department has been actively working to prevent an excessive rise in Treasury yields. He noted, "Direct intervention by the US government in the treasury markets to stem the rise in long-term yields were the main driver in traders' sentiment."

The 30-year US Treasury yields are currently hovering around 5.22 per cent after exceeding 5.30 per cent recently. This intervention suggests that the US Federal Reserve may be less inclined to raise the Federal Funds Rate in the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting in September.

At the close, the ringgit ended lower against a basket of major currencies. It slid versus the Japanese yen to 2.5527/5557 from 2.5498/5528 at Wednesday's close, fell against the British pound to 5.5164/5225 from 5.4994/5055 the previous day, and eased vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7322/7374 from 4.7080/7132 previously.

The local note traded mostly lower against regional currencies. It weakened versus the Indonesian rupiah to 227.7/228.1 from 227.3/227.7 the previous day, edged down against the Thai baht to 12.3014/3211 from 12.2686/2871 at the previous close, and slipped vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.1813/1851 from 3.1778/1816. However, the ringgit inched up against the Philippine peso to 6.55/6.57 from 6.56/6.57 on Wednesday.