China launched its first ever crude-futures contract as the world’s biggest oil buyer seeks to wield greater power over pricing and challenge benchmarks in the U.S. and Europe.
The long-awaited yuan-denominated futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange traded at 432.3 yuan a barrel ($68.47) for September settlement by 11:30 a.m. local time before a midday break. Trading will resume at 1:30 p.m. The contracts, which are open to foreign investors, end years of delays and setbacks since China’s first attempt to list the securities in 1993.
September contracts of the two major dollar-based oil benchmarks, Brent in London and West Texas Intermediate in New York, traded near $68.38 a barrel and $64.06, respectively. The Chinese contract traded about $4 a barrel higher than WTI earlier in the day.
Full story at Yahoo News.
By By Sarah Chen, Heesu Lee.
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