Officials: Open futures may prevent stock drops
8 March 2007
Chinese officials said stock prices probably wouldn't have fallen so abruptly last week if investors were able to use stock-index futures to bet against the market, the Wall Street Journal reported. Without futures contracts, the only way for investors to make money is in a rising market, a risky prospect over the long term. Currently contracts in copper, aluminum, natural rubber and fuel oil are already traded at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, but the government has expressed a desire to expand futures trading to stock indices and currencies. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will deliver a speech today at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, encouraging room for more open trading in China's stocks, bonds and currency.
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