Futures likely to be pricey

SHANGHAI - China's stock-index futures will begin trading on Friday at the "expensive side of fair value" as volumes will be limited, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said.

"Under close monitoring by authorities, we expect a gradual increase in liquidity, but even then we do not expect a significant direct impact on the stock market," Christopher Eoyang and Jason Lui, analysts at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a report on Thursday.

The futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell the CSI 300 Index, representing exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, at a preset value on an agreed date and are designed to allow investors to bet on and profit from both gains and declines.