ABC/WashPost US Consumer Comfort Index down to -5

NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - The confidence of American consumers matched its 2007 low in the latest week on rising gasoline prices, ABC News and The Washington Post said on Tuesday.

The ABC News/Washington Post Consumer Comfort Index fell to -5 in the week ending April 1 from -2 the previous week.

The measure ranges from -100 to +100; its 2007 average is -2 and its average since 1985 is -9.

"This month has seen gas prices increase steadily, up a dime in the past week alone," according to a statement released with the survey results.

Two of the three components of the ABC/Washington Post index were down from the previous week, while the other held steady.

Americans' positive views on their personal finances were down 1 percentage point to 59; positive views of the buying climate fell 3 percentage points to 40; and those on the national economy were unchanged at 44.

Gasoline prices have risen steadily in the past week along with oil prices following Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors and marines in the Gulf. U.S. light crude futures CLc1 fell 2 percent on Tuesday but are still above $64 after Britain played down expectations of a rapid solution to the diplomatic stand-off.

Confidence measures are generally viewed as a barometer of consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy. However, economists note that consumers do not always act in accordance with their statements to surveys.

The ABC/Washington Post consumer confidence survey was based on a sample of about 1,000 interviews conducted in the four weeks ending April 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.