China treasury bond futures open mixed Thursday

China's treasury bond futures opened mixed on Thursday, with contract for settlement in March 2014 opening flat at 92.288 yuan (15.05 U.S. dollars).

The contracts for settlement in June opened lower at 92.700 yuan. The contracts for settlement in September opened higher at 93.196 yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date. They allow investors to bet on or 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.