KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — Bargain hunting of oversold blue chips amid an upbeat regional performance gave Bursa Malaysia a boost today.

A rebound in oil prices and easing fears over the banking turmoil in the United States and Europe also contributed to improved sentiments on the local front.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 11.26 points, or 0.80 per cent, to 1,420.35 from yesterday's closing of 1,409.09.

The main index opened 1.61 points lower at 1,407.48, recording its intraday low, but later hit a high of 1,422.69 during the mid-morning session.

Market breadth was positive as gainers beat decliners by 574 to 331, while 400 counters were unchanged, 986 untraded, and 25 others suspended.

Turnover jumped to 3.42 billion units worth RM1.74 billion versus yesterday's 2.83 billion units worth RM1.51 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said markets also received an unexpected lift from improved US consumer confidence data in March.

The latest report from the Conference Board showed the business group’s consumer confidence index ticked up to 104.2 in March, better than the forecast 101.0 reading. The prior month's print stood at 103.4.

“However, economists anticipate inflation in the United States to stay high over the next year,” he told Bernama.

The latest report also revealed that consumers' expectations of inflation over the next 12 months remained elevated at 6.3 per cent.

“On the domestic front, we are cautiously optimistic given the improving sentiment on local and regional equities,” he said. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Thong reckons that the FBM KLCI would trend within the range of 1,410-1,425 for the remainder of the week.

Among the heavyweight counters, CIMB gained 10 sen to RM5.31, IHH put on eight sen to RM5.83 while Maybank and Sime Darby added five sen each to RM8.56 and RM2.20, respectively.

Axiata was four sen better at RM3.00 and MISC gained seven sen to RM7.18.

Among the actives, Computer Forms bagged 5.5 sen to 24 sen, MMAG and Hong Seng Consolidated were unchanged at 1.5 sen and 11.5 sen respectively, while BSL Corp went up one sen to five sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 86.11 points to 10,388.02, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 82.54 points to 10,083.37 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 79.79 points to 10,699.08.

The FBM 70 Index was 120.77 points stronger at 13,410.31 while the FBM ACE Index improved by 4.45 points to 5,209.96.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 128.79 points to 15,689.18, the Energy Index gained 18.82 points to 832.25 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.77 of-a-point to 168.77.

The Plantation Index dipped 34.17 points to 6,680.57.

The Main Market volume widened to 2.25 billion shares worth RM1.47 billion against 1.79 billion shares worth RM1.23 billion on Tuesday.

Warrant turnover increased to 422.94 million units worth RM78.79 million from 367.94 million units worth RM56.89 million.

The ACE Market volume rose to 747 million shares worth RM191.12 million from 671.62 million shares worth RM222.67 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 239.91 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (995.08 million); construction (78.02 million); technology (307.31 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (62.10 million); property (140.05 million); plantation (29.19 million); REITs (10.51 million), closed/fund (5,100); energy (115.26 million); healthcare (151.52 million); telecommunications and media (70.44 million); transportation and logistics (18.41 million); and utilities (30.91 million). — Bernama