A Good news for the gold and silver shopkeepers on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. After the advisory issued late last night by the central government, permission has been given to open essential and unnecessary shops in all the states of the country. However, after this order, the Chife Ministers of concerned state will issue instructions on which shops will open. But at present, this announcement is a delight for gold and silver traders. It is likely that in view of Akshaya Tritiya, gold and silver shops should be allowed to open. Maybe by Saturday evening, a decision should be taken in this regard and announced.

Due to the economic instability, high inflation and market volatility, gold continues to remain an attractive asset. Gold tends to do well during periods of financial volatility. Gold prices have shot up in the past few months. On Friday, gold futures were up 0.17 per cent or Rs 78 to Rs 46,505 per 10 gram.

You can buy gold in the form of biscuits, jewellery or coin. Even though there is no limit to how much of physical gold you can buy, there is always a risk factor. However, returns on physical gold are lower than actual return on gold. Purity check when buying physical gold is essential.

Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) can be purchased from stock exchanges. You can buy it almost at the actual rate. To buy gold ETFs, you will need a trading demat account. You must keep in mind that there is a minimum limit of one gram. Returns here too are lower than the actual return on gold. LTCG is applicable here. It can be traded on the exchange, plus there is no lock-in period. Gold purity is high here.

SGB(Sovereign Gold Bonds) are government securities. SGB is issued by the RBI in multiples of one gram of gold. There is an investment limit of 1 gram and maximum of 4kg for an individual. These bonds have lesser risk of theft. Additionally, they have high returns on the actual gold because of the interest payable. SGB interests are taxable. SGBs have high purity and can be traded on an exchange. Their maturity period is eight years. Storage cost is also low.