China stock index futures close lower

China's stock index futures closed lower on Monday, with the contract for March 2014, the most actively traded, down 78.4 points from the previous trading day to close at 2,062.8 points.

The April 2014 contract fell 81.4 points to end at 2,058.6 points. The June 2014 contract fell 77.4 points to end at 2,054.2 points, while the September 2014 contract went down 86.6 points to 2,050.6 points.

The stock-index contracts, agreements to buy or sell the Hushen 300 Index at a preset value on an agreed date, are designed to allow investors to bet on and profit from either gains or declines in the market.

The index futures was launched at the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading from April 16, 2010. The CFFEX has set the base value for all the four contracts at 3,399 points.