The Federal Reserve’s early morning cut of a key interest rate put a charge in shares of local lenders and real estate investment firms. Many of the firms had been sustaining stock losses because of a suffocating credit crunch.

Shares in the Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial Corp. got a 9.5 percent boost Friday, or $1.80 per share, after a week in which it was reported to be looking down the barrel of bankruptcy, forcing it to borrow $11.5 billion to stay solvent.

Shares in Fremont General, once one of the nation’s largest subprime lenders, had seen its shares decline more than 70 percent this year. The Santa Monica-based lender, which now focuses on retail banking and commercial lending, saw its shares get a 5.5 percent boost to $4.04 per share.

Shares in Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp. jumped 15 percent Friday after posting declines in 14 out of the last 16 weeks and having lost 55 percent in the past two weeks. Shares in the lender, which announced late last week that it was going to have to unload the assets of its Belvedere Trust Mortgage Corp. because it had defaulted, gained 62 cents and was trading at $4.68 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Finally, shares in IndyMac Bancorp. Inc. were also up 6.4 percent Friday, reversing a trend that saw the Pasadena-based lender’s stock lose 55 percent since the end of December. Shares were trading at $21.33 Friday afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Local REITS also got a boost Friday. Long Beach-based Healthcare Property Investors Inc. gained 6.6 percent, after losing 15 percent over the past month. Glendale-based Public Storage Inc. also gained 6.7 percent Friday, a week after losing 11 percent following a downgrade from Merrill Lynch & Co. Shares in Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. also added 4 percent to $93.18 after loosing 10 percent last week.