Oil prices rose by 1.3 percent on Friday as a weakened dollar sparked a rebound, but economic data expected during the US market hours could force the commodity south.

Brent crude rose jumped to $112 a barrel after dropping 9 percent on Thursdays session to finish below $100 per barrel - the largest one-day percentage drop in more than two years.

On the week, oil prices have dropped more than 12 percent. Other commodities have also been falling.

Selling pressure on oil and other commodities came on several fronts this week, with investors weighing factors from the death of Osama bin Laden to the impact of higher fuel and commodity costs on the economies of consumer nations to monetary policy in major economies.

Analysts said that the selling may not be over, as investors braced for more disappointing U.S. jobs data later on Friday.

The sell-off in oil was sparked off by German industrial orders falling unexpectedly in March, while U.S. weekly jobless claims hit eight-month highs, but selling by hedge funds seeking to raise cash after suffering losses on silver earlier in the week exaggerated losses.

A lot of hedge funds lost big on silver, and they have to raise cash by locking in profits on oil or gold.

The big story is that large institutional investors started selling during Sunday night, which is clearly visible looking at the chart, where it suddenly falls by some 10 percent in early Asian trading, David M. Arcobello, Senior Precious Metals Trader at International Bullion Exchange told IBTimes.

Those investors, including some hedge funds, decided that silver had gotten ahead of itself and liquidated huge amounts of silver. When retail investors become aware that well known names are dumping silver you're going to see some follow through selling pressure as we've seen.

Silver closed down 10 percent on Thursday, at $35.34 an ounce, its biggest one-day loss since October 2008.

The dollar was down 0.3 percent against a basket of currencies after soaring nearly 2 percent against the euro on Thursday as concerns about a global economic slowdown prompted investors to flee risky assets and high-yielding currencies and seek refuge in the greenback.

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