Bernanke gets second term as US Fed chairman

American President Barack Obama on Tuesday extended the tenure of US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke by another term.

Bernanke who has been helping the US grapple with the recession has been rewarded for doing a creditable job in the toughest economic times that the US has faced since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Bernanke has been advocating for a while that the US is stabilising and that the recession could well be nearing its end.

The argument that Bernanke put forth was based on the palpable recovery in US consumer spending and the signs of the real estate market looking up.