KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 24): The FBM KLCI closed down 5.33 points or 0.3% as foreign selling of Malaysian blue-chip shares continued amid near-term US interest rate hike expectation. At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,736.14 points.

Across Bursa Malaysia, 2.49 billion shares were transacted for RM2.13 billion. Decliners outpaced gainers by 578 versus 255 respectively.

TA Securities Holdings Bhd technical analyst Stephen Soo said foreign selling of Malaysian shares is not over yet.

“It is quite big selling pressure on blue chips and until and unless there is significant buying and local funds coming in, I don’t see a reversal soon. However, the market is oversold and it is ripe for a rebound.

“I believe it could happen by the end of the week with the tabling of the Budget (Malaysia's Budget 2018). The (KLCI's) immediate resistance would be 1,750 points,” Soo told theedgemarkets.com.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will table Budget 2018 in Parliament this Friday (Oct 27).

Across Asia today, the impact of US interest rate hike expectation was apparent in Hong Kong markets.

Reuters reported that Hong Kong stocks fell on Tuesday amid signs of tighter liquidity, which some analysts attributed to the prospects of another US rate hike by year-end. The Hang Seng index fell 0.5 percent, to 28,154.97, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.7 percent, to 11,405.55 points.

It was reported that Hong Kong's 3-month interbank fixing rate spiked to the highest level in five months on Tuesday, and the one-month rate has also been rising.