SEOUL, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Seoul shares pared their gains from the previous three sessions on Thursday, dragged lower by a soft China factory activity survey and weaker-than-expected earnings from Hyundai Motor, with Samsung Electronics next in line to announce earnings.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 1.2 percent at 1,947.59 points, giving up nearly all of the 1.3 percent gain from the previous three sessions.
Foreigners net sold 159.6 billion Korean won ($149.5 million) worth of KOSPI shares while institutional investors unloaded a net 38.4 billion won worth, breaking a five-session net buying streak.
Hyundai Motor Co on Thursday announced worse-than-expected October-December quarter earnings and fell 1.9 percent.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the biggest KOSPI component, dropped 2.2 percent before Friday's earnings result. ($1 = 1067.3000 Korean won) (Reporting by Jungmin Jang; Editing by Eric Meijer)