KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — 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 (RM162 trillion) for the first time, weighed on the greenback.

At 6pm, the ringgit strengthened 140 percentage in points (pips) to 4.0425/0470 against the US dollar from Wednesday’s close of 4.0565/0610.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the size of US public debt came into the spotlight recently with the US Treasury Department stepping up efforts to prevent Treasury yields from rising excessively.

“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. The move could mean the US Federal Reserve is less inclined to raise the Federal Funds Rate in the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting in September,” he told Bernama.

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 yesterday 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 yesterday, 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. — Bernama