Washington ? Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who has helped steer the economy for 17 years under four presidents, was nominated Tuesday for a fifth term by President Bush.

Bush said Tuesday that he had “great continuing confidence” in Greenspan, echoing the widely held view on Wall Street.

Financial markets took the midday announcement in stride because it had been widely expected. Bush took the unusual step of announcing in April 2003, at a time when Greenspan was undergoing successful surgery to correct a noncancerous enlarged prostate, that he would nominate the Fed chairman for a fifth term in 2004.

That action and Tuesday’s formal announcement were seen as efforts to reassure financial markets that the country’s monetary policy would remain on a steady course during the presidential campaign season.

Greenspan has gained almost cult-like status on Wall Street for helping to guide the economy through two long economic expansions interrupted by two brief eight-month recessions, in 1990-91 and 2001.

Greenspan, in a statement released by the Fed, said: “I am honored to be nominated by President Bush and, if confirmed by the Senate, to continue my service as chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System.”