BEIJING, June 25 -- China's key Hushen 300 index futures ended lower on Thursday, with the contract for July, the most actively traded, down 5.26 percent to close at 4587.2 points.

The August contract also slipped 5.26 percent to end at 4586.8 points. The September contract lost 5.41 percent to finish at 4586 points. The December contract went down 5.21 percent to 4613.4 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 either gains or declines in the market.

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