The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) fell below the five-thousand mark in intraday trading Monday after U.S. stocks ended lower upon the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who holds a hawkish stance on interest rates, as the new Federal Reserve chair.

As of 12:52 p.m, the KOSPI was trading at four-thousand-965-point-64, after shedding four-point-94 percent from Friday’s closing.

The Korea Exchange activated its sidecar mechanism at 12:31 p.m., calling a halt to trading for five minutes.

A sidecar is activated when KOSPI 200 futures rise or fall by at least five percent from the previous session’s close and hold that move for one minute.