Market diary.

Fed by concerns about the direction of interest rates and the slowing housing sector, the markets drifted lower during the shortened trading week ending Jan. 3. Besides the traditional closure for New Year's, the markets were closed Jan. 2 for the national day of mourning for former president Gerald R. Ford. Trading was also very thin on Dec. 28 and 29. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3 percent for the week to close at 12,474 after breaking through the 12,500 barrier several times. For 2006, the Dow defied conventional expectations and gained 15 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 0.7 percent on the week to close at 1,416, though the index rose nearly 12 percent in 2006. And the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.3 percent during the week to close at 2,423; it posted an 8 percent gain on the year. Locally, the LABJ 200 index lost 1 percent on the week, dropping to 144, with 110 stocks advancing and 81 declining. (The index gained 15 percent on the year.) Fifteen stocks hit 52-week highs, including Unico American Corp., a Woodland Hills-based insurer that was upgraded by A.M. Best Co. Only four stocks hit 52-week lows. The biggest gainer on the week was Point 360, which jumped 41 percent to $3.60 after a filing revealed DG Fast Channel had acquired an 11 percent stake in the company.