China stock index futures close lower - July 20

BEIJING -- China's stock index futures closed lower Friday with the contract for July down 27.6 points, or 1.14 percent, from the previous trading day to 2,402.6 points.

The August contract, the most actively traded, dropped 20.6 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 2,419 points. The September contract lost 18.2 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 2,429 points. While the December contract weakened 20.6 points, or 0.83 percent, to finish at 2,459.6 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 both gains and declines in the market.

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