The share price of POSCO, the Korean steel maker, dropped to the daily limit in a vertical slide across the board and among steel and other metal-related shares Thursday. POSCO's share price fell 53,000 won or 14.95 percent to 301,500 won.
It was the first time that POSCO had seen its share hit the daily limit, 15 percent since, Oct. 8, 1998 at the height of the currency crisis. Then, the daily limit was 12 percent up and down.
Blue chip POSCO led a stiff fall together with other steel makers' share prices and nonferrous metal shares, an average 14.34 percent. These shares dropped by the largest margins.
Analysts say that POSCO's fall was attributed to fears that a demand for steel from abroad and at home is slowing down because the financial crisis that started on Wall Street is spilling over to the Main Street's economy and the global economy is feared to go into a tailspin for a recession at best, or depression in the worst-case scenario.
``POSCO's acquisition bid for Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering is also adding to uncertainty about it,'' an analyst was quoted by Yonhap News.