Korean stocks edged up to snap their six-day losing streak on March 11 on bargain hunting, but lingering growth concerns limited the gains, analysts said. The local currency firmed against the greenback.

The benchmark KOSPI ticked up 0.66 point, or 0.03 percent, to close at 2,138.1. Trading volume was light at 260 million shares worth 3.86 trillion won (US$3.41 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 476 to 338.

Retail investors and institutions bought a net 96.3 billion won and 5 billion won worth of local stocks, respectively, while foreigners dumped 109.7 billion won more than they bought to offset gains.

The local currency was trading at 1,133.70 won against the US dollar, up 2.50 won from the previous session.

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