Trading in gold ETFs, which allows investment in yellow metal in electronic mode, on Friday rose to a record high of Rs. 423 crore at NSE, as investor demand soared on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. Trading volumes were also high at about Rs. 80 crore at BSE, the data on the bourses' website showed, taking the total for the two exchanges to well above Rs. 500 crore.
The two bourses conducted trade in gold ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) till 2100 hrs on Friday, as against normal trade timing of 0900 hrs to 1530 hrs, to cash upon the investor demand for gold on the day of 'Akshaya Tritiya', when it is considered auspicious to buy the yellow metal.
Both the exchanges also waived off transaction fees on gold ETFs for Friday.
The volumes have grown substantially from the last year's figures. NSE had seen volumes of Rs. 172 crore in Gold ETFs on Akshaya Tritiya last year on May 16, 2010.
NSE said that nearly 80,000 investors traded in gold ETFs on Friday against nearly 41,000 investors on Akshaya Tritiya last year.
This time nearly 20 lakh gold ETF units were traded at NSE, as against about 10.5 lakh on Akshaya Tritiya last year.
The word 'Akshaya' means something that never diminishes and it is believed that something valuable purchased on this day never loses value and therefore is considered auspicious for buying of gold, jewellery and other valuable items.
Akshaya Tritiya is observed on the third day of the Hindi month of Vaishaka.
Last year, Akshaya Tritiya had fallen on a Sunday and the exchanges had kept trading open till 1700 hrs.
NSE saw the turnover more than doubling for gold ETFs in last fiscal 2010-11 to Rs. 4,074.30 crore.
Gold ETFs, where 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, have been gaining ground among investors in past few years.
Gold prices have risen at an annual growth rate of more than 22 per cent since April 2007, when trading began in gold ETFs in India.
The gold was priced at Rs. 9,357 per 10 gm in April 2007, which grew to Rs. 16,335 in April 2010 and is now priced above Rs. 22,000 for 10 grams.
There was only one asset management company offering gold ETF in 2007, as against about 10 currently.
These include Axis, Benchmark, UTI, HDFC, ICICI Pru, Kotak, Quantum, Reliance, Religare and SBI mutual funds.
The returns on gold ETFs are linked to the domestic price of real gold and each gold ETF unit is roughly equal to the price of 1 gm of gold.
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