Tokyo shares plunged more than five percent Tuesday, deepening an equities market bloodbath as a sharp rise in the yen hammered exporters and sentiment took a battering over fears of a global economic slowdown.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 5.40 percent, or 918.86 points, to close at 16,085.44, while the Topix index of all first-section shares dived 5.51 percent, or 76.08 points, to 1,304.33.