KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses on Friday, as the market was dominated by worries that rising interest rates to curb inflation would spark a recession, although the contract was set for a second weekly gain.

The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 80 ringgit, or 2.09%, to 3,746 ringgit ($820.23) a tonne during early trade. For the week, the contract has risen 0.6% so far.

Macroeconomic worries hung over global equity and commodities markets a day after the US central bank hiked rates by 75 basis points for a third time, as expected, and raised its rate target to its highest since 2008.

Indonesia’s palm oil exports are set to jump in the second half of the year after the scrapping of export levies, but the annual total will still be lower than last year’s 33.7 million tonnes due to earlier restrictions, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association said on the sidelines of the Globoil Conference in Agra, India.