Tokyo shares slide on US bailout, economy worries

Tokyo share prices plunged Friday to their lowest level in more than three years on growing fears that even a passage of the proposed U.S. financial bailout package cannot stop the American economy from slipping into a recession.

A spate of dismal U.S. economic data also helped send the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average skidding 216.62 points, or 1.94 percent, to 10,938.14. The broader Topix index lost 2.69 percent to 1,047.97.

"The uncertainty about the U.S. bailout package is weighing heavily on Tokyo shares," said Noritsugu Hirakawa, strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. "It is clear the U.S. auto market, for one, is expected to …