Retail investors pare down net stock buying in Feb.

South Korean retail investors pared down their net buying of local stocks in February as the country's key stock index traded in a tight range following a bull run, data showed Sunday.

Retail investors snapped up a net 5.8 trillion won ($5.24 billion) worth of stocks on the main and secondary markets during 13 trading sessions ending on Feb. 19, compared with a net purchase of 25.8 trillion won in January, according to the bourse operator Korea Exchange.

Compared with a month earlier, their net stock purchases declined from a net 14.2 trillion won, the data showed.

Analysts said retail investors took a breather this month as the key stock index traded in a tight range.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 30 percent last year on the back of retail investors' buying spree.

It closed above the 3,000-point mark for the first time on Jan. 7.

Since the KOSPI soared above 3,200 points in late January, it has retreated below the mark and traded in a narrow range.

"Retail investors turned to a wait-and-see mode as the KOSPI failed to breach 3,200 points," Choi Yoo-june, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp., said. "Since mid-January, foreign investors' influence has increased on the local stock market." (Yonhap)