U.S. still in fiscal deadlock, but glimmers of hope emerge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A few faint glimmers of hope surfaced on Monday in the U.S. fiscal standoff, both in Congress and at the White House, with President Barack Obama saying he would accept a short-term increase in the nation's borrowing authority to avoid a default.

Separately, a Senate aide said Republican Senator Rob Portman, an Ohioan influential on budget issues, was floating a plan to cut federal spending and reform the U.S. tax code as part of a broader deal to reopen shuttered government agencies and raise the government's debt ceiling.