China treasury bond futures open mixed Thursday

China's treasury bond futures opened mixed on Thursday, with contract for settlement in December opening flat at 96.558 yuan (15.72 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in March 2015 opened at 97.15 yuan, up 0.05 yuan. The contract for settlement in June 2015 dropped 0.19 yuan to open at 97.3 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.