China’s yuan-denominated crude-oil futures surged on their long-awaited debut Monday, indicating positive initial sentiment toward the new market, which Beijing hopes will eventually give the country an oil benchmark to rival those in the U.S. and Europe. The most actively traded futures contract due for delivery in September closed up 3.3% at 429.9 yuan ($68.07) per barrel on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, after opening up more than 6% from a starting reference point of 416 yuan per barrel. Over 42,000 lots, or more than 21 million barrels, of oil valued at 18.3 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) were traded on Monday, according to data from Wind Information Co. Beijing has been planning to launch its own oil market for several years, with the aim of providing an oil price that will be more closely aligned to local supply and demand conditions. China is the world’s biggest importer of oil […]