Nikkei falls 4.1 pct on U.S. bailout rejection

*Nikkei falls 4.1 pct to 3-year closing low

*Nikkei down 10 percent in the April-September period

*Crisis worries drag after U.S. House rejects bailout plan

*Expectations for new moves from authorities provide support (Adds comment)

By Aiko Hayashi

TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average slid 4.1 percent to hit a three-year closing low on Tuesday after U.S. lawmakers rejected a $700 billion bailout plan for the financial system.

Exporters such as Sony Corp (6758.T) and bank shares tumbled although the Nikkei trimmed earlier losses as investors weighed the risk of a rebound on new moves from authorities.

"It looks like Congress is going to be up in arms about this for a while but there are hopes that there may be other moves from authorities such as a rate cut from the Fed," said Yutaka Miura, deputy manager at Shinko Securities.

The focus is now on U.S. President George Bush's statement about efforts for an economic rescue package at 1245 GMT, said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

"Some people in the market believe some alternative measures are being worked out, and they want to see what they are when Bush speaks," he said.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 shed 483.75 points to 11,259.86, the lowest finish since June 2005. It earlier lost nearly 5 percent.

It has lost 13.9 percent this month and has shed 10 percent in the April-September period, the first half of the business year.

The broader Topix declined 3.6 percent to 1,087.41, after tumbling more than 5 percent at one stage.

But others warned that even with the bailout plan approved, fundamental problems would remain.

"The real issue is that the economy is bad. It's hard to see how far things may worsen," said Tomomi Yamashita, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management. "I also think we shouldn't expect too much from the bailout. Given the anger of ordinary Americans, the party is probably over for Wall Street."

A tumble in stock prices also underlined other worries in Japan.