The Federal Reserve stepped into financial markets on Tuesday to keep short-term interest rates from rising — the first time the central bank has had to carry out this type of “market operation” since the global financial crisis.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York had to spring into action to keep the effective fed funds rate in line after it rose to the very top of the Fed’s range of 2 to 2.25 percent. The central bank branch, which acts as an intermediary between the Fed and financial markets, announced on Tuesday that it would conduct its first major repurchase market operation since the Fed changed its policy-setting approach during the Great Recession.