China treasury bond futures open mixed Tuesday

China's treasury bond futures opened mixed on Tuesday, with the contract for settlement in December 2013, the most actively traded, opening at 94.3 yuan (15.34 U.S. dollars), down 0.1 yuan from the previous trading day.

The contract for settlement in March 2014 fell 0.1 yuan to open at 94.4yuan, while the contract for settlement in June 2014 opened flat at 94.5yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date. They allow investors to bet on and profit from the movements in the value of the bonds.

The treasury bond futures were launched at the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading on Sept. 6, 2013.

The CFFEX set the base value for the December 2013 contract at 94.168 yuan, the March 2014 contract at 94.188 yuan and the June 2014 contract at 94.218 yuan.