Consumer confidence inches up but still negative: ABC

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American consumers' confidence inched up in the latest week but was still deeply in negative territory due to record high gasoline prices and continued weakness in the housing market, a report showed on Tuesday.

The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index edged up to -43 in the week to June 23, from -44 a week ago, and not far from its record low of -51 reached a month ago. The index ranges from -100 to +100, its 2008 average is -37 and its all-time average

-10.

The index was on track for the worst quarter since the first three months of 1992.

"Consumers have good cause for concern," ABC said in a statement. "Gas averaged a record-tying $4.08 a gallon this week and the Case-Shiller Home Price Index dropped 15.3 percent, the biggest annual drop in its 21-year history."

Another measure of consumer confidence released on Tuesday slid to a 16-year low in June as high inflation continued to sap confidence and pushed expectations on the future to a record low.

The Conference Board's monthly survey of consumers showed the overall index of consumers' moods fell to 50.4 in June, the lowest since 47.3 in February of 1992.

The ABC index's components were mixed in the latest week, as positive views on the national economy and those on personal finances both gained 1 percentage point to 14 and 49 percent respectively, while views on the buying climate were unchanged at 23 percent.

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 News consumer confidence survey was based on a sample of about 1,000 interviews conducted in the four weeks to June 23 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

(Reporting by Anastasija Johnson; Editing by Dan Grebler)