China treasury bond futures open lower Monday

China's treasury bond futures opened lower on Monday, with the contract for settlement in December, the most actively traded, opened lower at 91.724 yuan (14.96 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in March 2014 dropped to open at 92.506 yuan, and the contract for settlement in June 2014 also retreated at the opening at 92.856 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.