China treasury bond futures close lower Thursday

China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in September falling 0.078 yuan to 92.968 yuan (15.07 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in December dipped by 0.092 yuan to close at 93.36 yuan. The contract for settlement in March 2015 dropped 0.044 yuan to 93.818 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 and started trading on Sept. 6, 2013.