NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Positive views of the buying climate dipped to a 14-month low last week due to rising gasoline prices, following an unusually steep drop in overall consumer confidence the previous week.

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index stands at -18 on its scale of +100 to -100. It was -16 the previous week after a five-point fall and is now well below its -9 historical average.

At -18, the ABC/Money index is down 15 points since its -3 high for the year, set in January, but not quite back to its -22 low hit in March.

With gas prices reaching $2.06 a gallon and oil at an inflation-adjusted 14-year high, only 34 percent of Americans say it's a good time to buy things, down from 35 percent the week prior. That's down six points in May to its lowest since March 30, 2003, shortly after the beginning of the war in Iraq. The poll's buying gauge has been similarly sensitive to rising fuel prices in the past.

Thirty-four percent of respondents also rate the nation's economy as excellent or good, down from 35 percent the previous week. The highest level of confidence for this category, 80 percent, was set on January 16, 2000 and the lowest, 7 percent, in late 1991 and early 1992.

Fifty-five percent of Americans rate their own finances as excellent or good, down from 56 percent last week. Confidence peaked at 70 percent August 30, 1998, and January 2000, but bottomed out at 42 percent on March 14, 1993.

As usual, confidence is best among better-off Americans. The index is +16 among higher-income households while -60 among those with the lowest incomes.

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Partisan differences also continue to be a dividing factor. The index stands at +21 among Republicans, but is -21 among independents and -35 with Democrats.

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index represents a rolling average based on telephone interviews with a random sample of about 1,000 adults nationwide each month. This week's results are based on 1,000 interviews in the month ended May 30, 2004, and have an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points.