US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall St ends with 4th day of losses

NEW YORK Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks finished lower for a fourth day on Thursday but recovered most of the session's losses just before the closing bell when the House of Representatives said it would come back to work this weekend with the aim of avoiding the "fiscal cliff."

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 18.28 points, or 0.14 percent, to finish unofficially at 13,096.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 1.74 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,418.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 4.25 points, or 0.14 percent, to close unofficially at 2,985.91.