China treasury bond futures close lower Thursday

China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in June down 0.11 percent to close at 92.9 yuan (15.07 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in September declined 0.05 percent to close at 93.434 yuan. The contract for December settlement lost 0.03 percent to close at 93.674 yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date. They allow investors to bet on and profit from the movements in the value of the bonds.

The treasury bond futures were launched at the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading on Sept. 6, 2013.