India relaxes rules for $384 billion stock fund, allowing increased holdings in gold.

The Indian market regulator has allowed the country's active managed equity funds, with a scale of 384 billion US dollars, to allocate more funds to gold and silver, giving the funds greater flexibility as global demand for hard assets rises. According to revised rules by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, equity funds can invest up to 35% of their remaining assets in gold, silver instruments, and infrastructure investment trust units. By expanding the range of investable assets, the regulator provides equity funds with a more diverse set of investment tools, as previously these funds could only invest in money market and other liquid securities. This move may also create new sources of demand for gold and silver, as precious metals have attracted strong investor interest in the current significant uptrend.