The S&P 500 fell more than 7% Monday, triggering circuit breakers that temporarily helped halt a further plunge.

The index hit the mandatory trading halt shortly after the open, stopping trading below that level for 15 minutes. The market resumed trading at 9:49 am ET and continued a decline that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly shed more than 2,000 points.

In addition to the S&P, the most all-encompassing large-cap stock index, the Dow tumbled 7.3% while the Nasdaq, which is concentrated in technology names, slid 6.9% before trading stopped.

However, about 10 minutes after trading resumed, the major indexes shaved their losses though they remained down steeply for the session and were approaching bear market conditions.

"The market circuit breakers are designed to slow trading down for a few minutes, give investors the ability to understand what's happening in the market, consume the information and make decisions based on market conditions," New York Stock Exchange President Stacey Cunningham told CNBC's Bob Pisani. "This is operating as it's supposed to."