Clinton leads Trump by five points in polls

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leads her Republican rival Donald Trump by 5 percentage points among likely voters, down from a peak this month of 12 points, according to the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Friday.

The Aug. 22-25 opinion poll found that 41 per cent of likely voters supported Clinton ahead of the November 8 presidential election, while 36 per cent supported Trump. Some 23 per cent would not pick either candidate and answered "refused," "other" or "wouldn't vote."

Clinton, a former secretary of state, has led real estate developer Trump in the poll since Democrats and Republicans ended their national conventions and formally nominated their presidential candidates in July. Her level of support has varied between 41 and 45 per cent during that period, and her lead over Trump in the tracking poll peaked this month at 12 percentage points on Tuesday.

During the past week, Clinton has been dogged by accusations by Trump, which she has denied, that donations to her family's charitable foundation influenced her actions while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Questions have also surfaced again about her use of a private email server and address rather than a government one during her period at the State Department.

Meanwhile, Trump and Clinton also sparred over who would be a better advocate for African Americans and other minorities, and Trump hinted he could soften his hard-line stance on immigration.

In a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll that includes candidates from small, alternative parties, Clinton leads the field by a smaller margin.

Some 39 per cent of likely voters supported Clinton in the four-way poll, compared with 36 per cent for Trump, 7 per cent for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and 3 per cent for Green Party nominee Jill Stein.