WASHINGTON - A majority of Americans now back US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a presidential bid in 2016, a latest nationwide poll showed on Wednesday.

The ABC News and Washington Post poll found that 57 percent of Americans say they will support Clinton to run for the president candidacy to succeed Barack Obama four years later while 37 percent oppose it.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gestures as she addresses a news conference during a NATO foreign ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels Dec 5, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

A broad gender gap was shown in the poll when Clinton enjoys a stronger support among women. A total of 66 percent of women and 49 percent of men say yes to a Clinton presidential candidacy.

Clinton, who is expected to retire before Obama's second term, also closes out her diplomatic career with considerable approval and popularity.

The poll showed that 68 percent of Americans approve her work as Secretary of State, second only to Collin Powell among the last five on the position. Sixty-six percent of Americans hold a favorable view of her overall, a new high in her public career as the First Lady, US Senator and the top US diplomat in the Obama administration.

Speculations have mounted over whether Clinton will run for president again in 2016. Her personal favorability was as low as 44 percent in April 2008 during her presidential bid that ended up later by narrowly losing the party's nomination to Obama.