Market diary.

The markets recovered much of their November losses during the week ending December 6. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 83 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,309.30 and is up 15 percent year-to-date. The tech-dominated Nasdaq rose 0.6 percent to dose at 2,445.86, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1 percent to 1,412.90. The LABJ index of 200 local stocks outpaced the national markets, rising 1.5 percent to close at 144.74 as 119 stocks advanced and 72 declined. Construction/engineering stocks posted the biggest local sector gain at 6.1 percent, followed by automotive/plastics/metals at 5 percent. The only sector to post a decline was the biomedical/pharmaceutical industry, which dropped 3 percent. Twenty-seven local stocks hit 52-week highs, including eight real estate-related stocks, Walt Disney Co., DirecTV Group Inc. and Nara Bancorp. Also posting new highs were two local computer game companies, Activision Inc. and THQ Inc.; analysts expect the sector to post strong holiday sales. Only two stocks hit 52-week lows: 3D Systems Corp. and Crown Media Holdings Inc. Among the biggest gainers for the week was Digital Insight Corp., which rose 16 percent after financial software giant Intuit Inc. said it had agreed to buy the online banking service firm for $1.35 billion in cash. On the down side, Salem Communications Corp. stock lost 7.7 percent of its value as the company sold one of its radio stations in Ohio.