The Nikkei stock average slid 3 percent on Thursday to post its lowest close in over two weeks, as disappointment over a U.S. bank rescue plan hurt financial shares and a firmer yen dragged down exporters. One bright spot was gold and copper producer Sumitomo Metal Mining (5713.T), which gained 5.3 percent after gold prices jumped to a 6-½ month high on Wednesday as risk aversion prompted investors to buy gold and bullion-backed exchange-traded funds as a safe haven. [GOL/] After staying out of the market on Wednesday due to a national holiday, Japanese investors on Thursday played catch-up with Wall Street's falls. U.S. Treasury chief Timothy Geithner on Tuesday unveiled a new bank rescue plan that would put $2 trillion to work mopping up bad assets and restoring credit, but stock markets plunged on fears it wouldn't work. U.S. stocks recovered some ground on Wednesday. [ID:nLB341137] "Investors were disappointed as the U.S. bank rescue plan turned out to be rather small and it gave the impression the establishment of a 'bad bank' might not proceed smoothly," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. "Additionally, even though both the House and the Senate agreed on the stimulus package, there's a concern that the U.S. market may not gain on the news as it could merely see it as a sign that another event had passed." The benchmark Nikkei .N225 shed 240.58 points to 7,705.36, its lowest finish since Jan. 26. The broader Topix lost 2.3 percent to 760.29. Handing a big victory to President Barack Obama in his effort to pull the economy out of a tailspin, U.S. congressional negotiators on Wednesday reached a deal on $789 billion in emergency spending and tax cuts. A majority of negotiators approved the deal, setting up votes in the House potentially on Thursday and possibly later that evening in the Senate.

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