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NEW YORK — An angst-ridden stock emporium searched beneficial to stability today as investors weighed whether an emergency participation value cut would boost confidence and end the palsy in credit markets. The major indexes moved in and out of positive province, with the Dow Jones industrials at times falling more than 200 points or boil more than 100.

At the grapple, the Dow was down 189.01, or 2 percent, at 9,258.10.

Microsoft, individual of the 30 Dow stocks, fell 22 cents, or 1 percent, to $23.01. Boeing, also a Dow stock, was down $1.58, or 3.2 percent, at $47.70.

Broader indexes were also lower. The Standard & Poor’sitting 500 index sank 11.29, or 1.1 percent, to close at 984.94, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 14.55, or 0.8 percent, to 1,740.33.

The Federal Reserve and other leading central banks cut rates in the hope that credit markets would willingly relax and that banks would make a beginning lending more freely to businesses and consumers. The Fed lowered rates through a half-point, saying in a statement that the turmoil in pecuniary markets posed a further threat to an already shaky dispensation. It was joined in the asperse cut by the European Central Bank, Bank of England, The Bank of Canada, the Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank.

But good rate changes make prisoner of months to work their way end the economy, and while investors clearly were happy with the central banks’ actions, they were also well aware that in the near term, banks remain reluctant to bestow because of fears they won’t be paid back.

That fear, which increased after the failure of Lehman Brothers in mid-September, has total but shut down the influence markets, making it increasingly unfeeling for companies and individuals to borrow, and in turn, posing a further threat to the economy.

Wall Street has plunged in response to scarcity of good reputation, with the Dow without interruption the ground 875 points over the first couple days of this week. Stocks initially rose on the rate divide today, then spent the day seesawing as investors were torn betwixt make a bargain hunting and the reality of the good reputation markets’ ongoing troubles.

Comments late in the session from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson showed how jittery Wall Street is. While Paulson said the world’s financial policymakers would continue to act together to shore up market confidence, he also declared the turmoil wouldn’t pass quickly — and the greater indexes gave up some of their gains.

“With totally of this occurring as a coordinated effort it is showing that everybody out in that place is trying to fight this action, and that should bring some confidence back to the market,” said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group. “But, the big doubt now is can the credit mart open for dealing.”

Stocks drew some early support from signs that the housing form of productive effort — whose troubles set off the series of events most important to the general credit problems — might exist faring better than expected. The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales for August jumped unexpectedly, the more so than falling 1.8 percent as had been predicted. Pending sales, which ruminate signed contracts, rose 7.4 percent in August from an upwardly revised reading of 87 in July.

But investors who be favored with been selling frantically because of the stymied credit markets, eventually discounted the home sales discharge.

With its precipitous drop of the past few weeks, Wall Street is approaching the mass of the losses it suffered during the bear market in the in good time part of this decade. By the time the Dow reached its low of that market, 7,286.27 in succession Oct. 9, 2002, it had fallen 37.8 percent from its record high close of 11,722.98, impart in January 2000.

The Dow has now fallen about 34.6 percent from the closing high of 14,164.53, reached a year ago Thursday.

European indexes had a short-lived bounce after the rate divide. In Britain, the FTSE-100 ended from a boastful to a low position 5.18 percent, Germany’s DAX dropped 5.88 percent, and France’s CAC-40 dropped 6.31 percent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 9.4 percent lower and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 8.2 percent hours before the price cuts were announced; their declines showed the extent of the worldwide gloom. And Russia’s two necessary stock exchanges were suspended because of a massive sell-off right after their openings.

The worries upon the Street have been exacerbated by the spread of the U.S. good repute problems overseas. Several banks in Europe have had to be bailed out, and earlier this week, the governments of Germany, Ireland and Greece took steps to guarantee private bank deposits.

Moreover, the markets are mindful of the fact that the government’s $700 billion financial rescue plan is in its at the opening of day stages of implementation and enjoin take some time to have an impact on banks’ balance sheets.

David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor’s, said the losses about the world signal that markets are finally realizing that the credit crisis can’t be resolved soon.

“There was a general disregard for risk going on in monetary markets around the world, it wasn’t just the U.S.,” he said. “Now they’re waking up to risk.”

Investors had been anxious in recent days for a rate cut, despite the Fed taking other steps this week to help the credit markets. Policymakers unveiled a drawing to buy massive amounts of commercial paper, the short-term debt used by companies, in a bid to reanimate the credit markets.

It is likely that stocks won’t begin to make up for for good till investors are certain the credit markets are functioning in a more normal fashion. There are also severe economic problems including heavy job losses and high unemployment that exercise volition also exigency to show improvement.

The uncertainty in the market has driven investors to buy up anything deemed safe, including gold and government debt. For instance, the recompense of gold shot up $22.60 to $904.60 — though hushed off its enter of $1,033.90 in March.

Demand for short-term Treasurys remained high because of their safety; investors are willing to fix extremely low returns reasonable to have their money in a make sure of place.