Democrat Barack Obama has opened a 5-point lead over Republican rival John McCain in the White House race and expanded his support among women voters, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released Friday.

Obama leads McCain 48 percent to 43 percent among likely U.S. voters in the national poll, up slightly from a 4-point advantage for Obama Thursday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Obama's edge among women, an important swing voting bloc in the November 4 election, grew from 9 to 12 points. Obama also gained among Hispanics and young voters and leads by 10 points among independents.

Obama's edge has expanded amid intensifying economic fears as financial markets have tumbled this week. Half of the polling, conducted Monday through Thursday, was done after Tuesday's second presidential debate.

"Obama is benefiting from the terrible economic news and what was seen to be a relatively poor debate performance by McCain," pollster John Zogby said.

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