SINGAPORE/JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil posted a slim gain on Friday, as it tracked costlier rivals, but is set to record its biggest weekly loss in more than six months as weaker exports in December weighed.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 4 ringgit, or 0.09%, to 4,404 ringgit ($1,044.34) by closing.

Palm rose as much as 2.73% during the day to track costlier rival oils on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

However, the rally lost steam as traders took profit for the weekend as soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade and crude oil turned negative, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.44%, while Brent crude futures and US West Texas Intermediate crude both fell 1.5% as surging cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant raised fears new curbs may hit fuel demand.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract rose 1.69%, while its palm oil contract jumped 3.0%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. Cheaper crude oil makes palm oil less attractive for biofuels.

The contract, however, posted an 8.23% fall for the week due to weaker-than-expected exports during the first half of December, the biggest weekly loss since June 11.