Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) may revise downwards its forecast of FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) ending 2011 at 1,710 points if the oil price were to touch US$150 per barrel, said Maybank Investment Bank chief executive officer, Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

He said the bank would obviously be looking at what was happening in the market, as well as both in Japan and the Middle East along with developments in this region and if the oil price were to touch US$150, Maybank would definitely have to revise the target downwards.

'With the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, coupled with the recent earthquake in Japan, sentiment-wise it is quite bad, but for the moment we are still positive about the market.
'We are still overweight on three sectors -- oil and gas, construction and property sectors,' he told reporters after the briefing on Invest Malaysia 2011 here today.

He said the problems at Japan's nuclear power plants following the earthquake would definitely have an impact on oil prices in terms of energy demand from the country because it was one of the largest importers of oil.

'However, it is still too early to calculate the exact amount. We believe oil prices. The quantum is still too early to say, as it depends on the market,' he said.

He said what was happening in Japan would not affect the Malaysian exchange in terms of Japanese investors pulling out from the market, as the Malaysian investor base was broad. -- Bernama