Gold prices increased in Asian trading on Friday, approaching record highs amid a global market sell-off and growing concerns about an economic slowdown, which prompted a surge in safe-haven buying of the precious metal.

- Gold experienced significant gains this week as expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts put pressure on the dollar and reduced Treasury yields. Additionally, escalating tensions in the Middle East following the assassination of a Hamas leader contributed to increased demand for gold as a haven.

- Spot gold climbed 0.5% to $2,458.49 per ounce, while December gold futures rose 0.9% to $2,502.60 per ounce.

- Spot gold prices were on track to increase by over 3% this week, marking their strongest performance since March.

- The rise in gold prices was driven by a heightened demand for safe-haven assets in response to weaker U.S. purchasing managers' index and employment data, which amplified concerns about a potential slowdown in the world's largest economy.

- These economic data points led to sharp declines on Wall Street, which influenced trading in Asia and triggered a broad shift towards risk-off assets, further boosting gold’s appeal as a safe-haven investment.

- The weak economic data also followed indications from the Federal Reserve about the possibility of an interest rate cut in September, leading markets to price in a nearly certain 25 basis point reduction.

- Attention is now focused on the upcoming Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report for additional insights into the U.S. economy. A slowing labor market could enhance the likelihood of further interest rate cuts by the Fed.

- Lower interest rates generally benefit precious metal prices by reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets.

- Platinum futures increased by 0.7% to $977.25 per ounce, while silver futures surged by 1.6% to $28.925 per ounce.

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