股指期貨本周五將在中國首次推出，在開放市場方面邁出了投資者期待已久的一步。中國投資者一直渴望新投資產品的推出。

　　股指期貨的推出，使中國投資者首次可基于對整體市場將會下滑而非僅僅上漲的預期，而進行交易。

　　分析人士稱，無法就市場下滑預期進行交易推動了中國股市的泡沫化。因市市場看跌派別無選擇，只能賣出，這給了市場看漲派與其人數(shù)不成比例的巨大影響力。

　　股指期貨還將為投資者判斷價格走勢提供先行指標。

　　股指期貨的籌劃已有10年之久，部分原因是市場監(jiān)管者不愿推出恐會造成市場不穩(wěn)定的產品。分析人士稱，股指期貨此次推出僅僅是中國市場略微現(xiàn)代化的一個標志，而對股指期貨參與者的資格及參與者如何進行交易的限制，將削弱股指期貨釋放價格信號的能力。

　　股市監(jiān)管層選擇了一個平穩(wěn)時機推出股指期貨，中國股市的基準指數(shù)上證綜指今年下滑3.4%.分析人士稱，股指期貨開始在中國金融期貨交易所交易時，很可能會上漲，為現(xiàn)行股價提供堅實的支撐。中國金融期貨交易所是上海期貨交易所的一個附屬機構。

　　股指期貨以滬深300指數(shù)為標的指數(shù)，滬深300指數(shù)的成份股是在滬深兩市上市的300只大盤A股。2010年迄今，滬深300指數(shù)已下滑4.6%，周四收盤比前一交易日下跌0.3%.該指數(shù)在2009年的漲幅約為54%。

　　多年以來，分析人士常常將中國股市的巨大波動性部分歸咎于缺乏股指期貨機制。去年上證綜指上揚80%，前年下跌65%，而在2007年則上漲97%。

　　中國市場監(jiān)管層已推出主要大宗商品的期貨交易，該類市場較為開放，交易量最大的期貨品種中，銅及食糖的期貨交易最為活躍。

　　有關部門已經(jīng)對與金融產品、特別是股票掛鉤的期貨產生興趣，雖然金融期貨的交易活動被認為是華爾街2008年陷入崩潰的罪魁禍首。

　　但和華爾街以房地產為基礎的復雜產品不同，中國的期貨產品被認為是很簡單的。

　　另外，中國政府采取了謹慎的行動。很多個人投資者和公募基金等其他投資者都將不能立即參與股指期貨交易。

　　目前已有大約7，000個用于交易股指期貨的投資賬戶開立，相比之下，股市的賬戶數(shù)量多達1.21億。這也意味著股指期貨的交易不會怎么活躍。

　　上個月，中國金融期貨交易所（簡稱中金所）總經(jīng)理朱玉辰表示，已開設期貨交易賬戶的投資者中，98%都是個人投資者。

　　分析人士認為，股指期貨清淡而偏向散戶的交投，在剛開始的時候可能會帶來價格的大幅波動。

　　近幾個星期，同某些個股掛鉤的產品獲得監(jiān)管層放行，包括保證金交易和做空交易。這些產品的交易活動也受到規(guī)則的限制，自上個月開始以來，其成交量一直很低。

　　開始階段，股指期貨將在每個到期月份的第三個周五到期，第一批是5月、6月、9月和12月到期的合約。

　　中金所為上述四張合約設定了一個3399點的基準價，略高于周四的收盤價。分析人士說，基準價處在滬深300指數(shù)近期波動范圍內，并且是監(jiān)管層選擇的幸運數(shù)字。在廣東話中，“3”聽起來像“升”，“9”就像是“久”。

　　上海中期期貨經(jīng)紀有限公司（Shanghai Cifco Futures Co.）的分析師經(jīng)琢成表示，中金所為四張合約設定同一個基準價格，可能是想限制其間的套利交易。

　　據(jù)中金所發(fā)布的規(guī)則，合約價格每交易日波動幅度的上下限均為10%。

　　長城偉業(yè)期貨（Great Wall Futures Corp.）駐上海的分析師陳樹強估計，流動性可能最好的5月份合約、6月份合約，其合理價值相比滬深300指數(shù)現(xiàn)貨價格分別有15點和29點的升水。

　　China Investors：Ready For The Futures

　　Stock-market-index futures are scheduled to make their debut Friday in China，a much-awaited step to liberalize markets amid investors' hunger for new investment products.

　　Futures will for the first time give investors in China the ability to make trades based on their expectations the overall market will fall，not just rise.

　　Analysts say the inability to do that has helped fuel Chinese stock-market bubbles because bears have no choice but to sell，giving disproportionate influence to market bulls.

　　The futures will also offer a leading indicator of where investors think prices are headed.

　　The futures have been a decade in planning，in part because market regulators were reluctant to allow a product they fear could destabilize stocks. Analysts say the futures mark only a modest modernization，while limits on who can trade them and how they will trade will blunt their ability to send price signals.

　　Regulators have picked a quiet moment to introduce futures，with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 3.4% this year. Analysts say the futures are likely to rise when they begin trading on the China Financial Futures Exchange，an affiliate of the Shanghai Futures Exchange，giving current share prices a solid underpinning.

　　Index futures will be tied to the CSI-300，an index of 300 large-capitalization Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed Class A shares. So far in 2010，the CSI has lost 4.6%，ending Thursday's session down 0.3%. The index gained about 54% in 2009.

　　Over the years，analysts often blamed the great volatility of China's stock market in part on the absence of stock-index futures. The Shanghai Composite surged 80% last year，fell 65% the previous year and rose 97% in 2007.

　　Chinese authorities have embraced futures in major commodities and liberalized the market enough to make Chinese futures in copper and sugar among the most traded anywhere.

　　Authorities have warmed to futures tied to financial products，in particular to stocks，even as activity in financial futures was blamed in Wall Street's 2008 meltdown.

　　But unlike Wall Street's complex real-estate-based products，China's futures are considered simple.

　　Also，Beijing is moving cautiously. Many individuals and other participants，including mutual funds，won't be permitted to deal in stock-index futures immediately.

　　About 7 000 investor accounts have been opened to trade the index futures，compared with 121 million stock-market accounts，also suggesting trading will be limited.

　　Last month，Zhu Yucheng，general manager of the China Financial Futures Exchange，said 98% of those who had opened accounts to trade futures were individual investors.

　　Thin，retail-oriented trading in index futures could lead to dramatic fluctuations in their values initially， analysts say.

　　Regulators in recent weeks permitted trading of products tied to selected individual stocks，including margin trading and short selling. Rules also curtail activity in these products，and volume has remained small since last month's debut.

　　The initial stock-index futures will expire on the third Friday of each month，starting with contracts in May， June，September and December.

　　The exchange set a base price at 3399 for all four contracts，slightly above Thursday's close. Analysts said the base price is in the recent range of the CSI-300 Index and has been chosen as a lucky number by the regulator. In Cantonese，'three' sounds like the character for 'rise' while 'nine' sounds like the one for 'long.'

　　'The exchange probably wants to limit arbitration between the four contracts by setting the base price at the same level，' said Jing Zhuocheng，an analyst at Shanghai Cifco Futures Co.

　　The contract price will be permitted to rise or fall as much as 10% in one session，according to rules published by the exchange.

　　Chen Shuqiang，an analyst at Great Wall Futures Corp. in Shanghai，estimated the fair value of the May and June contracts，which will likely to be the most liquid instruments，at 15- and 29-point premiums to the spot level of the CSI-300，respectively.