Dhanteras: NSE extends trade in gold ETFs, sovereign gold bond

New Delhi: After BSE, National Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced to extend the trading session for gold exchange traded funds (ETF) and Sovereign Gold Bond on October 17 till 1900 hours on the occasion of Dhanteras, a festival celebrated two days before Diwali.

Besides, the exchange will conduct muhurat trading session on account of Diwali Laxmi Pujan on October 19 from 1830 hours to 1930 hours, NSE said in a notice.

"The exchange is conducting an extended live trading session on Tuesday, October 17, on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras for trading in Gold ETF and Sovereign Gold Bonds only," it added.

Last week, BSE had announced the similar move. After the regular market hours from 0915 hours to 1530 hours, trading in gold ETFs and SGB will resume at 1630 hours on October 17 and continue till 1900 hours.

It is considered auspicious to buy valuables like gold on occasions like Dhanteras, Diwali and Akshay Tritiya in India.

Gold ETFs track the metals prices and each unit of these securities is generally equivalent to one gram of gold, while Sovereign Gold Bonds - government securities denominated in grams of gold - offer an alternative to holding gold in physical form.

Gold ETFs of Axis mutual fund, Birla Sunlife mutual fund, UTI mutual fund, HDFC mutual fund, ICICI prudential and Goldman Sachs are some of the securities that would be available for trading.