Consumer mood seen to hold at series low

LONDON (Reuters) - Consumer confidence held steady at a series low in August, ending seven month of declines, a survey showed on Wednesday, in a sign that lower oil prices may be helping to support household morale.

The Nationwide Building Society's consumer confidence index remained steady at 52 but views on the current economic situation continued to worsen, with almost two-thirds of those questioned believing things were bad.

Still, signs that household despair has stopped deepening may provide some cheer to Prime Minister Gordon Brown whose Labour Party is trailing badly in opinion polls as voters punish it for a faltering economy and sliding house prices.

"Lower petrol prices and more competitive new mortgage rates will be good news for the public. Team GB's Olympic performance in Beijing may even have helped lift the nation's spirits slightly this month," said Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist said.

The survey showed consumers are still pessimistic about making large purchases such as a house or car, with 68 percent saying it was a bad time, up from 64 percent in July.