The markets continued their correction phase on July 16 but on a slower pace thanks to recovery of several blue chips.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged down 0.63 percent to close the session at 626.90 points as the decliners outnumbered the advancers by 106 to 89 while other 110 codes went flat.

Most of bank stocks extended losses, but some other large-cap shares rallied, which cushioned the fall.

Members of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity like steel market's Hoa Phat Group regained 3.5 percent while insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) increased 1.6 percent and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) rose 0.4 percent.

However, many others still slumped including Masan Group (MSN), VinGroup (VIC) and Vinamilk (VNM), pulling the VN30 down 0.37 percent to 649.06 points.

"The market is struggling to test investors' expectations as well as demand power while the VN-Index is approaching the five-year peak after a long rally," analysts at Saigon-Hanoi Securities Co wrote in a note.

They said profit-taking pressure in leading stocks which have seen hot rises in the past rallies was spreading to a large scale leading to decline in liquidity on growing investor caution.

Liquidity in the HCM City's market continued to drop slightly on July 16, totalling nearly 133 million shares worth 2.44 trillion VND (112 million USD).

HCM City Infrastructure Investment (CII) was the leading stock in terms of volume with 17.1 million shares changing hands, climbing over 5 percent to close at 27,200 VND (1.25 USD) a share.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched down just 0.08 percent to end at 87.59 points but both market volume and value declined 10 percent from the previous session, reaching just almost 57 million shares worth 731 billion VND (33.5 million USD).

Saigon Thuong Tin Real Estate Co (SCR) was the most active here with 6.5 million shares while its price also jumped 3.5 percent to settle at 9,000 VND a share.

Foreign trading was mixed on July 16. Foreigners unexpectedly sold a net value of 143.3 billion VND (6.6 million USD) in the HCM City's market but remained net buyers on the Hanoi bourse, picking up a modest value of 19.4 billion VND (890,000 USD) worth of shares.-VNA