FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The gold bullion was caught up in a broad equities and commodities sell off yesterday, dropping nearly $50 following a pair of downbeat US macroeconomic data. This morning however, gold is once again edging higher as investors take advantage of weaker prices ahead of a US employment report. Currently the gold contract for August delivery trades in at $1209.40 where it is up more than $10 since open. Despite gold’s common strength amid market turmoil, yesterday saw prices drop 4% reaching a 5-week low as investors sold the bullion to cover losses in other markets. The sell off was triggered by pronouncedly weaker-than-expected results for US pending home sales over May and ISM manufacturing over June supporting growth concerns reverberating through the marketplace as of late. What’s more, initial jobless claims were seen to rise by 13,000 over the previous month depressing investor sentiment leading up to today’s important non-farm payrolls release.

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