The Dow Jones industrial average, down more than 320 points early Wednesday, staged a dramatic about-face and closed up 298 points.

The Federal Reserve Board’s decision to cut the federal funds rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 3.5 percent Tuesday initially was met with skepticism but gave way to a legion of bargain hunters who scooped up discount stocks, primarily in real estate and financial sectors.

The Los Angeles Business Journal’s index of the 200 largest public companies saw 130 of the companies either gain ground or remain the same. The index gained 2.4 percent on Wednesday.

Those gaining the most were downtown Los Angeles-based real estate development company Meruelo Maddux Properties Inc., which gained 20 percent to $5.62, putting it up 46 percent for the week.

Also gaining were Calabasas-based homebuilder Ryland Group Inc., adding 16 percent to $31.22, as well as cross-county rival KB Home, which added 14 percent to $22.88.

Shares in Ontario-based CVB Financial Corp., which is the holding company for Citizens Business Bank, added 14 percent to $10.70 and Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial Corp. also joined in, closing up 13 percent to $5.99.

Broader stock indicators also surged, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose adding 2.1 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index closed up 1.1 percent.