WASHNGTON, Sept 25: Warned by President George Bush of a possible financial panic, key Republicans and Democrats reported agreement in principle on Thursday on a $700 billion bailout of the US financial industry and said they would present it to the administration in hopes of a vote within days.

Emerging from a two-hour negotiating session, Sen Chris Dodd, a Democrat and chairman of the Banking Committee, said, “We are very confident that we can act expeditiously.”

“I now expect that we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate (and) be signed by the president,” said Sen Bob Bennett, a Republican.

The bipartisan consensus on the general direction of the legislation was reported just hours before President George W. Bush was to host presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain and congressional leaders at the White House for discussions on how to clear obstacles to the unpopular rescue plan.

Tony Fratto, the White House deputy press secretary said the announcement was “a good sign that progress is being made”. “We’ll want to hear from (Treasury) Secretary (Henry) Paulson, and take a look at the details. We look forward to a good discussion at the meeting this afternoon,” he said.

On Wall Street, financial markets grew more upbeat as the Dow Jones industrial average at times rose more than 300 points.

Key lawmakers in Washington said at midday that few difficulties actually remained, although no details of their accord were immediately available.

“There really isn’t much of a deadlock to break,” said Rep Barney Frank, a Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

On Wednesday, President Bush had said that Congress had to quickly pass the $700 billion bailout or risk a national panic that would spell disaster for the United States. Bush had warned that the jobs, businesses and savings of millions of Americans were at stake.—Agencies