Gold ETFs have been the best performing category of funds over a one year as well as one-month period. Gold ETFs have delivered a handsome 25 per cent return in one year whereas in the same period, diversified equity funds as a category have seen a value erosion of 49 per cent. Had one invested in Gold ETFs just a month back, they would have got a 14-per cent return; an investment in equity funds during the same period, however, would have delivered a negative return of 1 per cent.
Higher buying interest in gold ETFs came on the back of spot prices of domestic gold going above Rs15,000/gm. International prices hover at $961 per ounce (a 7-month high). Higher global gold prices, combined with the rupee traversing below the 49 mark to a dollar, helped the surge in domestic gold prices and ETFs.