The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) fell sharply Monday as investors grew wary of the fallout after credit rating agency Moody downgraded the United States’ credit rating.

The KOSPI lost 23-point-45 points, or zero-point-89 percent, Monday to close at two-thousand 603-point-42.

Investor sentiment weakened as the U.S. sovereign credit rating fell from Aaa to Aa1 due to concerns over the country’s rising deficit and interest costs, prompting market volatility fears, while South Korea’s finance ministry pledged to closely monitor financial and foreign exchange markets.

Tech and auto stocks dragged the index lower, with Samsung Electronics slipping one-point-76 percent, SK hynix tumbling two-point-49 percent, Hyundai Motor shedding one-point-44 percent and Kia Motors edging down zero-point-54 percent.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ slid eleven-point-32 points, or one-point-56 percent, to close at 713-point-75.