[THE INVESTOR] Korean stocks finished almost flat on Feb. 1 as institutions and individuals offloaded shares, offsetting a massive buying-spree by foreigners amid uncertainties ahead of the Lunar New year holiday, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark KOSPI inched down 1.39 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,203.46. Trade volume was moderate at 471 million shares worth 6.74 trillion won (US$6.02 billion), with winners beating losers 440 to 382.

Foreigners bought a net 260.7 billion won worth of local stocks to support the index, while institutions and retail investors offloaded a net 209.9 billion won and 74.4 billion won to limit the gains.

The local currency closed at 1,118.80 won against the US dollar, down 6.10 won from the previous session.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)