Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 22-28

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 22-28:

Dec. 22: Actor Hector Elizondo is 88. Country singer and actor Red Steagall is 86. TV anchor Diane Sawyer is 79. Guitarist Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick is 76. Actor BernNadette Stanis (“Good Times”) is 71. Rapper Luther Campbell (2 Live Crew) is 64. Guitarist Chuck Mead (BR549) is 64. Actor Ralph Fiennes is 62. Actor Lauralee Bell (“The Young and the Restless”) is 56. Country singer Lori McKenna is 56. Actor Heather Donahue (“The Blair Witch Project”) is 51. Actor Chris Carmack (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “The O.C.”) is 44. Actor Harry Ford (“Code Black”) is 42. Actor Greg Finley (TV’s “The Flash,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”) is 40. Singer Jordin Sparks (“American Idol”) is 35. Singer Meghan Trainor is 31.

Dec. 23: Actor Ronnie Schell (“Gomer Pyle, USMC”) is 93. Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) is 84. Actor-comedian Harry Shearer (“The Simpsons”) is 81. Actor Susan Lucci (“All My Children”) is 78. Musician Adrian Belew (King Crimson) is 75. Guitarist Dave Murray of Iron Maiden is 68. Actor Joan Severance (TV’s “Wiseguy”) is 66. Singer Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is 60. Jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield is 47. Actor Anna Maria Perez de Tagle (“Hannah Montana,” ″Camp Rock”) is 34. Actor Spencer Daniels (“Mom”) is 32. Actor Caleb Foote (TV’s “The Kids Are Alright”) is 31.

Dec. 24: Actor Grand L. Bush (TV’s “The Visitor,” film’s “Demolition Man”) is 69. Actor Stephanie Hodge (“Unhappily Ever After”) is 68. Bassist-synthesizer player Ian Burden (Human League) is 67. Actor Anil Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire”) is 65. Actor Wade Williams (“Prison Break,” “The Bernie Mac Show”) is 63. Singer Mary Ramsey of 10,000 Maniacs is 61. Actor Mark Valley (“Boston Legal”) is 60. Actor Diedrich Bader (“The Drew Carey Show”) is 58. Actor Amaury Nolasco (TV’s “Deception,” “Prison Break”) is 54. Singer Ricky Martin is 53. “Twilight” series author Stephenie Meyer is 51. TV host Ryan Seacrest (“American Idol”) is 50. Actor Michael Raymond-James (“Once Upon a Time,” “True Blood”) is 47. Actor Austin Stowell (“12 Strong”) is 40. Actor Sofia Black-D’Elia (“Your Honor,” “The Mick”) is 33. Singer Louis Tomlinson of One Direction is 33.

Dec. 25: Actor Hanna Schygulla (“Barnum,” ″Casanova”) is 81. Singer John Edwards of The Spinners is 80. Actor Gary Sandy (“WKRP In Cincinnati”) is 79. Country singer Barbara Mandrell is 76. Actor Sissy Spacek is 75. Blues musician Joe Louis Walker is 75. Actor CCH Pounder is 72. Guitarist Robin Campbell of UB40 is 70. Singer Annie Lennox is 70. Singer Steve Wariner is 70. Actor Klea Scott (“Millennium”) is 56. Guitarist Noel Hogan of The Cranberries is 53. Singer Dido is 53. Singer Mac Powell of Third Day is 52. Country singer Alecia Elliott is 42. Singer Jess and Lisa Origliasso of The Veronicas are 40. Actor Perdita Weeks (2018′s “Magnum P.I.”) is 39. Singer-guitarist Lukas Nelson of Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real is 36.

Dec. 26: “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh is 79. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 78. Bassist George Porter Junior of The Meters is 77. Humorist David Sedaris is 68. Drummer Brian Westrum of Sons of the Desert is 62. Drummer Lars Ulrich of Metallica is 61. Guitarist J (White Zombie) is 57. Country singer Audrey Wiggins is 57. Guitarist Peter Klett of Candlebox is 56. Singer James Mercer of The Shins is 54. Actor-singer Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars is 53. Singer Chris Daughtry (“American Idol”) is 45. Actor Beth Behrs (“The Neighborhood,” “2 Broke Girls”) is 39. Actor Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”) is 38. Actor Eden Sher (“The Middle”) is 33. Singer Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix is 32.

Dec. 27: Guitarist Mick Jones of Foreigner is 80. Singer Tracy Nelson is 80. Actor Gerard Depardieu is 76. Jazz drummer T.S. Monk is 75. Singer Karla Bonoff is 73. Guitarist David Knopfler of Dire Straits is 72. Actor Tovah Feldshuh (“Law & Order”) is 71. Actor Maryam D’Abo (“The Living Daylights”) is 64. Drummer Jeff Bryant (Ricochet) is 62. Actor Ian Gomez (“Felicity,” ″The Drew Carey Show”) is 60. Actor Theresa Randle (“Bad Boys”) is 60. Actor Eva LaRue (“CSI: Miami”) is 58. Bassist Darrin Vincent of Dailey and Vincent is 55. Guitarist Matt Slocum of Sixpence None The Richer is 52. Actor Wilson Cruz (“Party of Five,” ″My So-Called Life”) is 51. Actor Masi Oka (“Hawaii Five-0,” ″Heroes”) is 50. Actor Emilie de Ravin (“Once Upon a Time,” ″Lost”) is 43. Actor Jay Ellis (“Insecure”) is 43. Guitarist James Mead of Kutless is 42. Singer Hayley Williams of Paramore is 36. Singer Shay Mooney of Dan and Shay is 33. Actor Timothée Chalamet is 29.

Dec. 28: Singer-keyboardist Edgar Winter is 78. TV personality Gayle King (“CBS This Morning”) is 70. Actor Denzel Washington is 70. Drummer Mike McGuire of Shenandoah is 66. Country singer-guitarist Marty Roe of Diamond Rio is 64. Actor Malcolm Gets (“Caroline in the City”) is 61. Political commentator Ana Navarro (“The View”) is 53. Comedian Seth Meyers (“Late Night With Seth Meyers”) is 51. Actor Brendan Hines (“Suits,” ″Lie To Me”) is 48. Actor Joe Manganiello (“True Blood”) is 48. Actor Vanessa Ferlito (“NCIS: New Orleans”) is 47. Singer John Legend is 46. Actor Andre Holland (“Moonlight,” “Selma”) is 45. Actor Sienna Miller is 43. Actor Beau Garrett (“The Good Doctor”) is 42. Actor Thomas Dekker (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Heroes”) is 37. Actor Mackenzie Rosman (“7th Heaven”) is 35. “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta is 34. Actor Mary-Charles Jones (“Kevin Can Wait”) is 23. Actor Miles Brown (“black-ish”) is 20.

FILE - Timothee Chalamet arrives at the world premiere of the film "Dune: Part Two" in London on Feb. 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting Monday ahead of a meeting by the Federal Reserve later this week that could set Wall Street’s direction into next year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in early trading, coming off its first losing week in the last four. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was edging up by 17 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%.

MicroStrategy climbed 2% in its first trading since learning it will soon join the Nasdaq 100 index, as it continues to benefit from the surging price for bitcoin, which set another record. The software company has been building its hoard of the cryptocurrency, and its stock price has more than sextupled this year.

Bitcoin topped $106,000 before pulling back toward $104,500, according to CoinDesk. It’s catapulted from roughly $44,000 at the start of the year, riding a recent wave of enthusiasm that President-elect Donald Trump will create a system that’s more favorable to digital currencies.

The market’s main event, though, will arrive on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve will announce its last move on interest rates for the year. The widespread expectation is that it will cut its main rate for a third straight time, as it tries to give a boost to the slowing job market after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its target of 2%.

The outstanding question is how much more it will cut rates next year, and Fed officials will be releasing projections for where they see the federal funds rate ending 2025, along with other economic indicators, once their meeting concludes. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also answer questions in a press conference following the meeting.

For now, the general expectation among traders is that the Fed will cut another two times in 2025, according to data from CME Group. But that number has been shrinking following some reports suggesting inflation may be tougher to get all the way down to 2% from here. Besides last month’s slight acceleration in inflation, a worry is that Trump’s preferences for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation down the line.

Expectations for a series of cuts to rates by the Fed have been one of the main reasons the S&P 500 has set an all-time high 57 times so far this year and is heading for one of its best years of the millennium. The economy has held up better than many feared, continuing to grow even after the Fed hiked the fed funds rate to a two-decade high in hopes of grinding down on inflation, which topped 9% two summers ago.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.37% from 4.40% late Friday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, slipped to 4.22% from 4.25%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly across much of Europe and Asia.

They sank 0.9% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in Shanghai after China reported lackluster economic indicators for November despite attempts to strengthen the world’s second-largest economy. .

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% as law enforcement authorities pushed to summon impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his short-lived martial law decree and the Constitutional Court met to discuss whether to remove him from office or reinstate him.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

The New York Stock Exchange is shown behind the statue titled "Fearless Girl", Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Signs mark the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway in New York's Financial District on Wednesday Dec.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)