KUALA LUMPUR: The local market was weighed down by heavyweight counters Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Chemicals even as the strong US dollar triggered money outflows from emerging markets.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was 2.91 points lower at 1,850.67. Trading volume was 1.15 billion shares with a value of RM986.97mil. There were 474 decliners versus 319 advancers and 332 counters unchanged.

Tenga Nasional was the leading decliner on the benchmark index, sliding 38 sen to RM15.38 while Petronas Chemicals dropped 17 sen to RM8.53.

Among other Petronas counters, Petronas Dagangan lost 70 sen to RM25.50 while Petronas Gas edged two sen higher to RM18.

Digi weighed, falling five sen to RM4.68 while Axiata slid four sen to RM5.09. MISC lost seven sen to RM6.67 while Sime Darby Plantation slipped one sen to RM5.55.

Nestle resumed its rise, adding RM1.60 to RM149.60. 

In the spotlight today, Hengyuan lost RM1.11 to RM7.18. Proprietary day trading (PDT) and intra-day short-selling (IDSS) had earlier been suspended for the counter after its share price fell more than 15% in the early morning session.

Beverage maker F&N fell 54 sen to RM36.42 while Allianz dropped 18 sen to RM13.12.

Among advancers, Gamuda rose 21 sden to RM4.31, Aeon Credit rose 24 sen to RM14.94 and Serba Dinamik advanced 16 sen to RM3.38.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as the US considered imposing sanctions on the oil producer on allegations that its national election was rigged in the incumbent's favour. The US also made a list of sweeping sanctions against Iran, which would further curb its export of crude oil.

WTI crude gained 20 cents to US$72.44 a barrel while Brent crude added 13 cents to US$79.35 a barrel. 

In currencies, the ringgit edged slightly higher against the US dollar at 3.9765 after five consectutive sessions of losses against the greenback. It was unchanged against the pound sterling at 5.3348 and 0.24% weaker against the Singapore dollar at 2.9688.