Top senator warns US reaching 'brink of default'

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama and top lawmakers searched for an elusive deal on Sunday necessary to avert an unprecedented debt default by the United States that economists warn could have a catastrophic ripple effect on financial markets.

Behind closed doors at the White House and in the marbled halls of Congress, polarized US leaders struggled to come together despite fears that the stalemate could send global markets tumbling, starting with early Monday trade in Asia.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused Republicans on Saturday of bringing the world's richest country to "the brink of default" by rejecting a deal that would last through the 2012 US election.