Washington, May 31 (IANS): US President Barack Obama's performance on national security and international affairs and his image as a strong leader appear to be behind his rising approval rating, according to a new poll.

Obama's approval rating among Americans stands at 54 percent, with 45 percent saying they disapprove of the job he's doing as president, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday.

Obama's approval rating appears to have steadily risen in the past two months, from 48 percent in early April to 52 percent in early May and the current mark of 54 percent, it noted.

"On specific issues, the president's approval rating is over 50 percent on only three out of 11 items tested, and all three - terrorism, Afghanistan, and Iraq - are foreign or security issues," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

"But his approval rating on every domestic issue listed in the poll is well below 50 and on most of them - including the economy, health care, taxes, and the budget deficit - his rating has remained flat or dropped since the start of the year."

Only one in four says they approve of how the president is handling high gas prices. And the survey indicates that six in ten think that things are going badly in the US today.

"Clearly Americans are responding the president's foreign policy credentials, an advantage that is magnified every time he goes abroad," said Holland.

The killing of Osama bin Laden in a May 2 US raid also helped give Obama a bump in his approval ratings, with most of that change coming from two key groups - Republicans and senior citizens, the poll noted.