Gold prices saw a significant increase on Friday, September 5, heading towards the strongest weekly gains in nearly three months, supported by strong expectations regarding a cut in U.S. interest rates this month, as investors await the release of non-farm payroll data for August scheduled for later today.

By 05:00 GMT, the spot gold price in the global market jumped by 0.4% to reach $3557.99 per ounce, nearing its all-time high of $3578.50 recorded on Wednesday. Futures contracts for December gold rose by 0.3% to $3616.70 per ounce.

With this increase, the precious metal has achieved weekly gains of 3.2%, the best since June, recording new record levels exceeding $3578 per ounce in spot trading. Two main factors have driven it to these levels: the increasing expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates and ongoing concerns about the independence of the U.S. central bank. Despite profit-taking that temporarily restrained gains, gold has risen by about 35% since the beginning of this year.

Commenting on this performance, Tim Waterer, senior market analyst at "KCM Trade": "Gold is moving upward today as traders tend to wait before the job data is released, but the driving factors remain in its favor, especially with the likelihood of a rate cut soon, President Donald Trump's efforts to reshape the Federal Reserve towards more easing, and ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine."

Economic data released on Thursday reinforced this upward trend, showing that weekly unemployment claims rose more than expected, while the "ADP" report revealed that private sector job growth in August was weaker than expected.

Statements from several Federal Reserve officials during this week have also bolstered these expectations, confirming that weak labor market data enhances the likelihood of a rate cut soon. The "FedWatch" tool from the CME group indicates that markets are pricing in nearly 100% for a 25 basis point rate cut at the September meeting.

In a related context, silver rose by 0.5% to $40.85 per ounce, platinum increased by 1.1% to $1382.33, while palladium remained stable at $1127.01 per ounce.