South Korean shares ended bearish on Friday after rallying for three straight days as investors took cautious stance ahead of the announcement of the U.S. monthly jobs data, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 11. 96 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 1,972.34. Trading volume stood at 530.95 million shares worth 7.42 trillion won (6.64 billion U.S. dollars).

The KOSPI took a weak start, and stayed in negative terrain throughout the session as investors were cautiously awaiting the U. S. non-farm payrolls, which always set the tone for the market in a week or two.

"There was no specific issue to move local stocks in any direction. Selling by local institutions and foreigners drove down the KOSPI as they are waiting for the U.S. employment data," Yoo Kyung-ha, an analyst at Dongbu Securities in Seoul, told Xinhua.

Yoo noted that foreigners seemed to view the local stock market from a positive perspective, saying that foreign inflow into the market was expected to continue for the time being although it remained to be seen whether the U.S. labor data keeps the positive sentiment.

The U.S. economy was projected to create 150,000 jobs in January, with the jobless rate being forecast to stay at 8.5 percent. The number of people applying for jobless benefit in the United States fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, boosting the positive non-farm payroll data last month.

Offshore investors turned to net sellers after buying local shares worth a whopping 1 trillion won or so in the previous session. Foreigners sold a net 141.8 billion won worth of local stocks, but they bought a total of more than 7 trillion won in stocks for this year.

Globally ample liquidity and positive views on the South Korea' s economic fundamentals led foreigners to invest massive funds into the local stock market. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), foreign buying of local listed stocks hit a new record high of 6.2 trillion won last month.

Meanwhile, local institutions kept their selling spree for the ninth consecutive session by offloading a net 270.4 billion won worth of shares, but retail investors were net buyers worth 347.7 billion won.

Most large-cap shares ended lower. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics dipped 1.3 percent to 1,066,000 won, but its local rival LG Electronics edge up 0.22 percent to 90,700 won. Memory chip giant Hynix Semiconductor dropped 3.66 percent to 26,300, and flat screen maker LG Display tumbled 4.27 percent to 29,150 won on foreign selling.

The world's largest shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries plunged 7. 72 percent to 293,000 won after announcing negative earnings results. The shipbuilder's operating profit plunged 62.4 percent on-year to 405 billion won in the fourth quarter.

The local currency finished at 1,118.3 won against the greenback, up 0.1 won from Thursday's close.

Bond prices ended mixed. The yield on the liquid three-year treasury notes stayed unchanged at 3.38 percent, but the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds added 0.01 percentage point to 3.50 percent. (One U.S. dollar equals 1118.2 won)