China treasury bond futures close lower Wednesday

BEIJING -- China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Wednesday, with the contract for settlement in June down 0.26 percent to close at 92.164 yuan ($14.99).

The contract for settlement in September lost 0.25 percent to close at 92.656 yuan, while the December contract went down 0.12 percent to end at 92.988 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.