Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE have extended trading hours for gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) and Sovereign Gold Bond till 1900 hrs on April 28, on account of Akshaya Tritiya. Occasions like Dhanteras, Diwali and Akshaya Tritiya are considered auspicious to buy valuables like gold in India.

Trading in gold ETFs is usually higher on these days. On the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on Friday, April 28, the exchanges have decided to conduct extended Live Trading session in Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) securities and Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) securities in the equity segment, BSE and NSE said in separate circulars issued today.

After the regular market hours from 0915 hrs to 1530 hrs across all segments, trading in gold ETFs will resume at 1630 hrs and continue till 1900 hrs, they added.

Gold ETFs track physical market gold prices and each unit of these ETFs is generally equivalent to one gram of gold while Sovereign Gold Bonds are government securities denominated in grams of gold offering an alternative to hold gold in physical form. In gold ETFs, returns are linked to the domestic price of physical gold but spare the investors from the trouble of buying and keeping the yellow metal in physical form.

The extended trading would be allowed in gold ETFs of mutual funds including Axis MF, HDFC MF, IDBI MF, Reliance MF, Quantum Religare MF, Kotak MF and Birla SunLife MF.