(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished mostly higher on Thursday after lawmakers reached a deal with Citigroup Inc. on a plan directed at reducing home foreclosures.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27.24 points or 0.31% to finish at 8,742.46. The S&P 500 rose 3.08 points or 0.34% to 909.73. The Nasdaq Composite added 17.95 points or 1.12% to end at 1,617.01.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) trimmed early losses to finish in green after Senate Democrats agreed on a plan to let bankruptcy judges alter mortgages in an effort to prevent foreclosures.

President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday, once again urged the Congress to quickly pass the economic stimulus package. "I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible," he said. Obama warned “If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits.”

Thursday’s jobless data largely evoked mixed reaction. According to Department of Labor on Thursday number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 24,000 to 467,00 in the week ending Jan. 3. Economists had forecast jobless claims to rise to 545,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, decreased by 27,000 to 525,750. However, continuing claims for the week ending Dec. 27 jumped 101,000 to 4.61 million, a 26 year high.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) plunged $4.16 or 7.49% to $51.38 after the retail giant said its fourth-quarter profit will fall short of its forecast. The company said it it expects earnings of 91 cents to 94 cents per share from continuing operations in fourth quarter, lower than its previous estimates of fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.03 to $1.07 from continuing operations.

Rival Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ: COST) said that its same store sales fell 4% in December. Shares of Costco increased 53 cents or 1.06% to $50.65.

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) jumped $9.43 or 23.26 to $49.98 after the owner of Sears and Kmart chains reported that its December same store sales slipped 7.3%. The company said it expects to earn $2.44 to $3.09 a share in the fourth quarter ending Jan. 31, excluding one-time items. For the full fiscal year, Sears estimates earnings in the range of $1.27 and $1.90 a share. Consensus expectations were for net income of $1.89 a share for the fourth quarter and 54 cents for the full year.

Apparel retailer Gap Inc. (NYSE: GAP) said Thursday that same-store sales for the month of December dropped 14%, worse than the consensus estimates of 9.3%. Shares of the company surged $1.73 or 25.90% to $8.41.

Macy's Inc.