South Korean stocks ended flat on Friday as investors digested mixed economic data, while foreigners hunted for bargains, analysts said. The South Korean won strengthened against the U.S. dollar. 

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.01 point to 1,986.62. Trading volume was light at 280 million shares worth 2.98 trillion won (US$2.67 billion), with gainers beating losers, 407 to 365.

Investors took to the sidelines after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said Thursday the bank will wait until the next quarter to assess the need for more stimulus, setting its sights on the upcoming U.S. jobs report.

"Market expectations were not high for additional stimulus measures by the ECB, so its decision to push back quantitative easing had relatively limited impact on the local stock market,"

said Bae Sung-jin, an analyst at Hyundai Securities. "Foreign investors are buying undervalued stocks as the dollar remains strong against the Korean won. Their buying mode is expected to last for a while unless there are sharp fluctuations in oil prices."

Foreigners bought a net 70 billion won, while retail and institutional investors sold 63.2 billion and 11.9 billion, respectively. 

Oil refiners, which were hit hard by a sharp decline in oil prices, rebounded. S-Oil, South Korea's third-largest oil refiner, advanced 5.79 percent to 45,650 won, and industry leader SK Innovation inched up 0.7 percent to 86,100 won. 

Tech shares were mixed. Top market cap Samsung Electronics added 0.15 percent to end at 1,302,000 won, while global chipmaker SK hynix was down 0.72 percent to 48,350 won. 

SK C&C, SK Group's IT services unit, jumped 5.34 percent to 227,000 won, while Samsung SDS, Samsung's key IT unit, fell 1.69 percent to 349,500 won. 

The local currency ended at 1,114.10 won against the U.S. dollar, up 1.1 won from Thursday's close. (Yonhap)