Anchor: The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, which was on a roll last week, closed below the five-thousand mark on Monday after slipping more than five percent. Also on Monday, the Korea Exchange activated its sidecar mechanism for the first time since November. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) shed 274-point-69 points, or five-point-26 percent, on Monday to close at four-thousand-949-point-67.

It was the index’s first dip below the five-thousand mark since it achieved the milestone for the first time ever on Tuesday last week.

The index opened down one-point-95 percent from the previous trading session at five-thousand-122-point-62. 

The KOSPI dropped to as low as four-thousand-933-point-58 at one point. 

In response, the Korea Exchange activated this year’s first sidecar mechanism at 12:31 p.m., calling a halt to trading for five minutes for the first time since November.

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.

Individual investors made net purchases surpassing four trillion won, but foreign and institutional investors each made net sales of more than two trillion won, resulting in the decline of the index.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which rank No. 1 and No. 2 by market capitalization on the KOSPI, also saw declines. 

The plunge came in the wake of the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the new U.S. Federal Reserve chair. Although investors gained some clarity with the nomination, the interest rate outlook remains uncertain.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ lost 51-point-80 points, or four-point-44 percent, to close at one-thousand-98-point-36.

The South Korean won weakened against the U.S. dollar by 24-point-eight won, trading at one-thousand-464-point-three won per dollar as of 3:30 p.m.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.