(EDS: This is a regular nightly feature. To avoid duplication, please note that all these stories are also moving in longer form.) For publication on Friday. Oct. 9. FOR NOW, 500,000 HOMEOWNERS GET LOWER MORTGAGE PAYMENTS For months, troubled homeowners seeking to lower their mortgage payments under a federal plan have complained about bureaucratic bungling, ceaseless frustration and confusion. On Thursday, the Obama administration declared that the $75 billion program is finally providing broad relief after it pressured mortgage companies to move faster to modify more loans. Five hundred thousand troubled homeowners have had their loan payments lowered on a trial basis under the Making Home Affordable Program, said Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner in a telephone briefing with reporters. He said roughly 40 percent of the 1.2 million homeowners deemed eligible have been helped. CONCERNS GROW ABOUT ANOTHER MORTGAGE GIANT First it was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now concern is growing that another government mortgage giant might teeter, just as the nation's housing market is stabilizing. A year after Fannie and Freddie were effectively nationalized, problems at the Federal Housing Administration are raising worries among industry executives and Washington policy makers. But in testimony before a House subcommittee on Thursday, the FHA commissioner, David H. Stevens, assured lawmakers that his agency would not need a bailout and that it was taking steps to manage its risks. INTEREST RATES ARE UNCHANGED IN EUROPE AND BRITAIN The European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept their benchmark rates at record lows on Thursday to support economies that are still struggling to overcome the effects of the global financial crisis. The European Central Bank left its rate at 1 percent, signaling a cautious approach toward any moves to withdraw the unprecedented monetary stimulus it has provided. The Bank of England, facing the challenge of reinvigorating the harder-hit British economy, also left its key rate steady at 0.5 percent. RETAILERS SEE SMALL GAINS IN SEPTEMBER Big retail chains collectively managed to eke out a small sales increase in September, they reported on Thursday, the first year-over-year sales increase since July. The figures were considerably better than analysts expected and helped spark a rally on Wall Street that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.6 percent. For stores open at least a year, retailers posted a 0.6 percent uptick in sales, compared to September of last year, according to Thomson Reuters. Analysts had been expecting about a 1 percent decline for September. LIZ CLAIBORNE TO BE SOLD ONLY AT J.C. PENNEY STORES Liz Claiborne, the clothing company founded in 1976, said on Thursday that next year, Liz Claiborne-branded merchandise would be sold exclusively at J.C. Penney. The lone exception is the Liz Claiborne New York brand, designed by Isaac Mizrahi, which will be sold only on QVC, the television shopping network. In the future, Liz Claiborne will spearhead the design process of its merchandise, but it will not procure, produce, market or distribute the merchandise. Rather, J.C. Penney will do all of that. BRITISH REGULATORS OPPOSE MERGER OF TICKET BROKERS Britain's antitrust regulator said Thursday that it would oppose the planned merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, saying that the consolidation of two major players in entertainment in the United States and Europe could lead to higher concert ticket prices. The ticketing agent and the concert promoter, both based in California, announced in February that they aimed to unite. Britain's Competition Commission, an independent public agency, said in a statement on Thursday that 'the merger could severely inhibit the entry of a major new competitor' and result in higher prices for consumers. 