Market diary.

For the weak ended Sept. 26, major indices were mixed even as investors cheered a tentative labor agreement reached by General Motors and the United Auto Workers following a two-day strike. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.5 percent to 13878.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.2 percent to 2699.03. Conversely, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.2 percent to 1525.42. The LABJ 200 Index was off 0.8 percent to 138.32, with declining issues outpacing advancers by 111 to 78. Defense contractor AeroVironment Inc. jumped 16 percent after announcing an unmanned aircraft system contract with the United States Special Operations Command valued at $57 million and reaffirming its fiscal 2008 guidance. Online marketing company Valueclick Inc. rose 13 percent on renewed speculation that it might be an acquisition target. On the downside, Fremont General Corp. dropped 28 percent after disclosing that an investor group wanted to revisit terms of a planned $80 million investment in the company's industrial bank. Home-builder Ryland Group Inc. dropped 20 percent on continued concern about the residential real estate market. Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. fell 13 percent after an analyst earlier in the weak lowered his third-quarter earnings estimate for the retailer.