Shares retreated yesterday, ending a six-day rally in its tracks.
On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index dropped 1.6 per cent to 479.79 points.
Most shares closed unchanged, while 80 stocks gained in value and the remaining 70 tumbled.
Blue chips sold heavily, with over 83 per cent of the 30 leading shares declining. Gemadept Logistics (GMD) and commercial baker Kinh Do (KDC) were the only two to rise.
The VN30, tracking these shares, shed 1.53 per cent to 564.01 points.

Five stocks that had the most significant impact on the VN-Index including PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), food processor Masan (MSN), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Vinamilk (VNM) and Vietcombank (VCB), fell by between 0.9 and 2.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, penny shares were on top, especially minerals.

The overall trading volume reached 80.5 million shares on a turnover of VND1.14 trillion (US$54.2 million). "A high level of trading value indicates that investors were still patient and cash was moving to speculative and low price shares," said analysts for the financial information website vietstock.vn.

According to VietCapital Securities Co director Robert Zielinski, the correction in the recent rally was predictable as the VN-Index tested the resistance of 490 points, while the level for the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange was 64.

"No more point gains but an uptrend looks steady," he said.

The HNX-Index also slid nearly 1.2 per cent, fetching 62.62 points.
Losers overwhelmed gainers by 128-83.

The HNX-Index's amplitude had been improved, said Zielinski, therefore it could increase remarkably in the coming time.

Trading was relatively sluggish, with a market value of only VND529.5 billion ($25.2 million) and trading volume of 67.24 million shares.

The HNX30-Index, composed of the northern bourse's 30 largest stocks in terms of capitalisation and liquidity, dropped almost 2 per cent to close at 121.62 points.

Foreign investors remained as net buyers, but value dropped. Their net buys totalled VND174 billion ($8.2 million) on both stock exchanges.