China halts bond futures trading amid global selloff

Chinese bond yields soared and authorities halted trading in some futures contracts for the first time on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reports, as a global bond-market selloff worsened a day after the Federal Reserve signaled a quicker pace of interest-rate increases next year. The Chinese 10-year government bond yield, which rises when prices fall, hit a 16-month high of 3.4%, extending selling that began in late November and accelerated this week amid slowing growth, outflows of capital and concerns over asset bubbles. In early trading, the 10-year and five-year government-bond futures recorded their biggest ever drops in price, falling by 2% and 1.2%, respectively, leading exchange authorities to suspend the securities. Trading resumed only after China’s central bank injected about $22 billion into the short-term money market.