China treasury bond futures open lower Thursday

China's treasury bond futures opened lower on Thursday, with contract for settlement in September opening at 92.976 yuan (15.08 U.S. dollars), down 0.07 yuan.

The contract for settlement in December opened 0.048 yuan lower at 93.404 yuan. The March 2015 contract edged down 0.02 yuan to open at 93.842 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.