China treasury bond futures open lower Thursday

China's treasury bond futures opened lower on Thursday, with contract for settlement in December opening slightly lower at 94.400 yuan (15.35 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in March 2015 opened slightly lower at 94.694 yuan. The June 2015 contract had no trading at the opening.

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.