Market diary.

The major indices were flat or closed slightly down as the markets were recovering from significant sell-offs earlier in the week ended Sept. 12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.1 percent to 13291.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index also fell 0.5 percent to 2592.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was unchanged at 1471.56. The LABJ 200 Index also was unchanged at 133.53, although declining issues far outpacing advances by 118 to 71, with 10 unchanged. Mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. fell 11.6 percent after announcing earlier in the week that it planned to cut up to 12,000 jobs. Executive search firm Korn/Ferry International took a 14.5 percent hit after first quarter earnings fell significantly below analyst expectations. Among local gainers, Obagi Medical Products Inc. rose 9.3 percent on new product releases and the decision to split responsibility for international sales and manufacturing/distribution business units between two people following the resignation of a longtime executive vice president. Physicians Formula Holdings Inc. gained 7.8 percent after a Citi Investment Research analyst upgraded the stock to "buy," saying the cosmetics company should post strong sales growth in the next year.