Could the Dow hit 25K before 2018?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average settled in negative territory mid-day Friday, making it highly unlikely that the major U.S. stock index will close the year breaching another 1,000 point milestone.

The U.S. markets are having a lackluster final week of trading before the year ends, but the Dow still had another record-high close on Thursday. Mid-day Friday, the Dow was fractionally lower and about 200 points away from the 25,000 point milestone.

The Dow and the Russell 2000 posted modest advances to close at record-highs on Thursday. This was the Dow’s 71st record-high finish of 2017, and the Russell 2000’s 31st.

Even though the stock indexes are lower, on the final trading day in December, the Dow and the S&P 500 are on track to finish higher for the ninth-straight month. It’s the longest winning streak for the Dow in almost 60 years, and the S&P in more than 34 years.

The Nasdaq is on track to finish up for the sixth-straight month, and has finished higher in 13 of the last 14 months.