South Korean stocks are expected to take another breather this week, moving only in a tight range due to the lack of any major drivers to spur the market, analysts said Saturday.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 2,002.37 last week, down 0.6 percent from a week earlier when the key index surged to a five-month high of 2,007.58.

Foreign investors purchased a combined net 1 trillion won ($895 million) worth of shares, while institutional investors sold off a net 800 billion won. Individual retail investors offloaded a net 100 billion won.

The main bourse got off to a strong start, breaching the 2,010 mark after the Bank of Japan announced plans to further boost its asset-buying scheme by 10 trillion yen.

But it quickly dropped to the 1,990 mark following a report that China’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index, a gauge of manufacturing activity, will again fall short of the key expansionary threshold of 50 in September.

Market watchers said the Seoul bourse will likely take a moment for a future leap.

“The overall movement of the market is still very strong. We will not see a lot of movement in the market this week, but it will rather be a chance for the market to save up energy,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst from KDB Daewoo Securities.

Kim Jeong-hwan, another analyst from the securities firm, noted what he called the stabilization of eurozone debt woes and possible recovery of China’s consumer sentiments will have positive effects on the country’s stock market. (Yonhap News)