Restaurants mostly rise as investors look to Fed

Restaurant shares mainly rose Tuesday as investors awaited a decision by the Federal Reserve on whether to lower interest rates.

The stocks bucked a trend in the overall market, which dropped at the opening bell.

Many investors were nervous about the fate of insurer American International Group after several ratings agencies lowered their ratings on the company. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs said before the market opened that its third-quarter profit sunk 70 percent.

The slide in the overall market followed the worst trading day since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, after Lehman Brothers announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and Bank of America said it will buy Merrill Lynch.

Here's how some key restaurant stocks fared in early trading:

Darden Restaurants Inc. fell 2 cents to $29.50.

McDonald's Corp. rose 78 cents to $64.50.

Starbucks Corp. climbed 42 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $15.62.

DineEquity Inc. rose 62 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $15.93.