WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence inched higher in March despite soaring energy prices brought on by the war in Iran. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose modestly to 91.8 in March from 91 in February. The board said that while rising costs due to tariffs and spiking oil prices induced by the conflict in the Middle East did not affect the topline confidence reading, there was increasing pessimism in other measures of the survey, including