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)