KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained bullish at the start of the week as investor sentiment was driven higher by news that the country had reopened its borders as well as resume overseas travel.

       At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was up 6.68 points to 1,570.58, extending an uptrend from the previous week's commodities-driven rally, which put the market on a firmer footing.

       Airline group AirAsia 's counters are seeing a surge of interest on expectation of renewed demand for air travel. AirAsia jumped 11 sen to RM1.30 while AirAsia X rose two sen to 10.5 sen.

       The two counters were the top traded on the market thus far with 69.06 million and 48.59 million shares exchanging hands respectively.

       In plantation plays, investors looked for leads to extend the advance that had contributed to over one-third of the previous week's gains.

       According to Kenanga Research, the plantations industry report due out later today may attract added interest to the sector.

       "In particular, the question on investor’s mind will be the sustainability of the CPO price as the spot-month futures contract currently hovers at a record closing high of RM5,085 per MT," it said.

       In early morning trade, Sime Darby Plantation was up four sen to RM4.29, IOI rose one sen to RM4.08 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong stayed flat at RM22.46.

       Petronas Chemicals, which was also a top gainer in the previous week, rose 16 sen to RM8.84 as the leading counter on the blue-chip index.

       Press Metal followed suit, rising 13 sen to RM6.22.

       Meanwhile, bank stocks remained firm with Maybank adding four sen to RM8.09, Public Bank adding one sen to RM4.09 and CIMB climbing two sen to RM4.92. Hong Leong Bank was an outlier, losing two sen to RM18.58.

       From a technical viewpoint, Kenanga is bullish over the market outlook as the previous week's bounce-off the support suggests the bellwether mayu have found a short-term market bottom amid renewed buying interest.

       "Following its first rise in six weeks, which then lifted the key market barometer above the 100-day SMA, the benchmark index may want to build on the ongoing positive momentum.

       "Hence, the FBMKLCI could stay firm while consolidating between our revised immediate support and resistance thresholds of 1,550 and 1,600 for the time being," it said.