Malaysia's Leading Index (LI) rose 0.5% year on year in March to 113.3 points, up from 112.7 points a year earlier, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said Monday.

The increase was driven by expansion in three of seven components, led by a 32.3% jump in the number of housing units approved. However, gains were partly offset by a 22.6% decline in real imports of semiconductors, reflecting softer external demand.

Monthly, the Leading Index edged down 0.1%, weighed mainly by a 0.9% decline in real imports of other basic precious and non-ferrous metals.

Meanwhile, the Coincident Index (CI), which tracks current economic activity, rose 2% annually to 130.4 points. The growth was supported by higher real contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and stronger retail trade volume.

Monthly, the CI increased 0.8%, driven by EPF contributions, while diffusion indices showed weakening breadth in the latest month, the data showed.