Encouraging the consumer sentiment to trade gold on Akshaya Tritiya, The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) are extending trading hours for Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), on the day of the festival. The trading can take place until 7pm, reports say. When the market hours conclude at 3.30pm, the trading in gold ETFs will begin again at 4:30 PM until 7pm on April 21st, when Akshaya Tritiya will be celebrated. The hours will be extended for live trading of gold ETFs of Axis, Goldman Sachs, HDFC, ICICI Pru, Kotak, Quantum, Reliance, Religare, SBI, UTI and Birla Sun Life mutual funds, as per reports.

Also, BSE will waive off transactions charges for all trades in Gold ETFs on the festival day, reports add.

The festival is an occasion where Indians welcome prosperity through the purchase of gold, as the yellow metal is believed to symbolize this prosperity.