Chinese authorities halted trading in key bond futures for the first time on Thursday, as panicky investors sold the securities on concern that a long, credit-fueled bull market was coming to an end amid slowing growth, capital outflows and heightened government concern about asset bubbles. China’s 10-year and 5-year Treasury bond futures recorded their biggest ever drops in early trading, falling by 2% and 1.2%, respectively, prompting exchange authorities here to suspend the securities. Trading resumed only after China’s central bank injected around $22 billion into the short-term money market. The 10-year government bond yield, which rises when prices fall, meanwhile hit a 16-month high of 3.4%, extending a selloff in Chinese bond markets that began in late November and has accelerated this week. In recent years, China has unleashed a wave of easy credit and fiscal stimulus to keep its slowing economy aloft. Chinese investors were able to […]