China treasury bond futures open lower Friday

China's treasury bond futures opened lower on Friday, with the contract for settlement in December 2013, the most actively traded, down 0.022 yuan to open at 94.55 yuan.

The contract for settlement for March 2014 dropped 0.042 yuan to open at 94.596 yuan, while the June 2014 contract opened 0.038 yuan lower to 94.606 yuan.

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.