NEW YORK, May 12 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes wavered on narrow margins early Monday as inflation-pushing crude oil prices eased back slightly in New York.

Oil prices retreated 65 cents to $125.28 per barrel after breaking the $126 mark last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 19.13 points to 12,765.01, up 0.15 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 0.25 points to 1,388.53, up 0.02 percent. The Nasdaq composite index increased by 5.00 points to 2,450.52, up 0.2 percent.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 9/32 to yield 3.745 percent.

The euro traded at $1.5476 from Friday's $1.5483 and the dollar traded at 103.42 yen from Friday's 102.97 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index gained 88.02 points to 13,743.36, up 0.64 percent.

Canadian new-house prices slowed in March

OTTAWA, May 12 (UPI) -- The growth in prices of new houses in Canada slowed for the second straight month in March, up just 0.2 percent from February, Statistics Canada said Monday.

There were some significant regional deviations from the national average, however, including Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where prices rose at the fastest pace, the agency said. The city experienced a year-over-year price increase of 46.2 percent in March, down from the record-setting pace of 58.3 percent in February.

In the border city of Windsor, Ontario, grappling with automotive manufacturing losses, prices fell 0.6 percent from March 2007, which StatsCan said was a trend now 18 months old.

Homebuyers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, saw prices rise 12.8 percent, up from the year-over-year increase of 11.4 percent in February. StatsCan attributed that to a strengthening economy, coupled with increased material and labor costs.

In Toronto, the country's largest city, contractors' selling prices were 4.5 percent higher, compared with March 2007, the agency said.

Poll: Economy is worsening

PRINCETON, N.J., May 12 (UPI) -- A large majority of adults in the United States indicated the economy is in the worst shape it has been in all year, a Gallup poll said.

In a daily tracking poll May 8-10, 87 percent of 1,494 respondents indicated the economy is "getting worse," Gallup said.

The survey carries a margin of error of plus and minus 3 percent, Gallup said.

NASA awards Ares mobile launcher contract

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency said it awarded a contract to the Hensel Phelps Construction Co. to build the Ares I mobile launcher for NASA's Constellation Program.

Ares I is the rocket that will transport the Orion exploration vehicle, its crew and cargo into low Earth orbit. The contract issued to the Greenley, Colo., company includes an option for an additional Ares I mobile launcher.

NASA said the fixed-price contract has a value of $263 million if all options are exercised.

The mobile launcher will support the Ares I and the vehicle's associated ground equipment. It will be used in the assembly, testing and servicing of the Ares I at the Kennedy Space Center.

The tower of the mobile launcher will have multiple platforms for personnel access and will be approximately 390 feet tall, NASA said. Construction will take place at the mobile launcher site north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building.