China treasury bond futures close lower Thursday

China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in June closing at 94.1 yuan (15.43 U.S. dollars), down 0.52 percent.

The contract for settlement in September lost 0.60 percent to close at 94.4 yuan, while the December contract shrank 0.52 percent to finish at 94.8 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.

The CFFEX set the base value for the December 2013 contract at 94.168 yuan, the March 2014 contract at 94.188 yuan and the June 2014 contract at 94.218 yuan.