The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and other central banks from Britain and Switzerland to Canada and China announced rate reductions within seconds of one another. The British government separately announced a plan to pump billions of pounds into the country’s leading banks as part of a plan that would result in considerably greater government influence over the financial sector there.

The Fed said in a statement that, because of weakening economic activity, it had cut the Federal funds target rate by half a percentage point, to 1.5 percent. It also cut its discount rate by the same amount. The vote was unanimous.

The European Central Bank cuts its benchmark rate to 3.75 percent, from 4.25 percent.

The moves had some initial effect on stock markets. European markets pared their heavy losses after the announcement, only to fall again. On Wall Street, investors showed little sense of direction.

The Dow Jones industrials lurched from a 200-point drop at the open to a 200-point increase just 45 minutes later. The Dow was slightly lower after 10:30 a.m., but continued to fluctuate widely.

Federal Reserve officials said Wednesday’s action was the first time ever that the Fed had coordinated a reduction in interest rates with other central banks, though the United States has periodically joined with other countries to intervene in currency markets to stabilize foreign exchange rates.

The closest thing to a precedent came in November 2001, when the Fed and the European Central Bank announced a rate reduction on the same day. But those actions were nominally independent, and they did not involve any additional foreign central banks.

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