New Delhi, May 13 -- Bulls holding paper gold booked profits big time after the government hiked the gold import duty by an overnight 9% to save on precious forex amid elevated oil prices induced by a prolonged impasse in West Asia.

This was clearly reflected in popular gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which closed around 6% higher despite the 9% duty hike effective Wednesday.

Gold ETFs and derivatives include the landed price which factors in the international rate, currency and the import duty.

Also, gold futures on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) were trading up by a similar amount at the time of writing, underscoring a greater proportion of net sellers than buyers in the market to take advantage of the overnight hike ...