South Korean stocks ended almost flat after a choppy trading session on March 22, with foreigners scooping up tech shares, offsetting a massive selling spree by institutions, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Kospi inched up 2.07 points, or 0.09 percent, to close at 2,186.95. Trade volume was moderately light at 291 million shares worth 4.85 trillion won ($4.29 billion), with the number of losers outnumbering gainers 517 to 301.

Institutions offloaded a net 300.5 billion won worth of local stocks, while individuals and foreigners were net buyers snatching up 47.1 billion won and 247.3 billion won worth of shares, respectively.

The local currency closed at 1,130.10 won against the greenback, down 2.40 won from the previous session’s close.

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