Large-caps retreated without support from foreign investors. The first trading week of 2016 seemed to have left a bad taste in investors' mouths as Asian equities had fallen in unison with the Shanghai Composite, which notched the largest slide of more than 5.3%. The local downward trend persisted today with negative sentiment being the main driver. The VN-Index dropped another two points to close at 557.87 amid today's disappointing turnover.