KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Bursa Malaysia closed 0.26 per cent higher today, boosted by improved market sentiment as buying support emerged primarily in banking and consumer product stocks.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.14 points to 1,587.36 from 1,583.22 at yesterday’s close.

The barometer index opened 1.95 points firmer at 1,585.17 and moved between 1,575.54 and 1,589.06 throughout the day.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outpaced losers 530 to 370, while 445 counters were unchanged, 931 untraded, and 73 others suspended.

Total turnover decreased to 2.86 billion units worth RM2.36 billion from 3.41 billion units worth RM2.16 billion yesterday.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said this marked the end of the first-quarter performance with the FBM KLCI increasing by 19.83 points from December 2021 or an increase of 1.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

"It seems that 1,600 points is the psychological level to be breached.

"The benchmark index has made several attempts but it still struggling. Important events such as the military conflicts in Ukraine appear to be the main stumbling block,” he told Bernama.

Additionally, he said, there was monetary tightening in the developed economies such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada while China remained adamant to implement the Zero Covid-19 Strategy (ZCS) that had a significant impact on supply chains.

"(This is) not to mention rising crude oil prices. We believe similar factors will continue to affect the market,” he said.

However, the reopening of the borders tomorrow would mean economic activities would be livelier and companies’ earnings could be accelerated, said Mohd Afzanizam.

"Again, the FBM KLCI might attempt to breach the 1,600 points in the second quarter of 2022,” he added.

Among the local heavyweights, Maybank rose six sen to RM8.94, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.67, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare gained four sen each to RM9.60 and RM6.20, respectively, and CIMB was flat at RM5.33.

Of the actives, Metronic, TWL and SMTrack increased half-a-sen each to two sen, seven sen and eight sen, respectively, while Capital A fell 1.5 sen to 73.5 sen and Malakoff dropped half-a-sen to 60 sen.

On the index board, the FBM 70 increased 114.54 points to 13,853.47, the FBM Emas Index perked up 49.92 points to 11,387.32, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 44.06 points to 11,943.35, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 43.61 points to 11,066.11, and the FBM ACE expanded 17.35 points to 5,618.82.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.44 points to 205.44 and the Financial Services Index jumped 83.94 points to 16,778.59, while the Plantation Index slid 8.49 points to 7,952.98.

The Main Market volume fell to 2.08 billion shares worth RM2.20 billion compared with 2.45 billion shares worth RM1.96 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover dropped to 359.59 million units valued at RM58.62 million against 459.1 million units valued at RM75.70 million.

The ACE Market volume decreased to 404.61 million shares worth RM101.83 million versus 494.0 million shares worth RM130.79 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 342.25 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (802.08 billion), construction (59.55 million), technology (126.44 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (102.65 million), property (264.40 million), plantation (42.82 million), REITs (14.59 million), closed/fund (18,900), energy (129.96 million), healthcare (69.13 million), telecommunications and media (58.35 million), transportation and logistics (31.84 million), and utilities (42.77 million). — Bernama