August 27, 1982

The Federal Reserve Board yesterday announced a half-point reduction, to 10 percent, in the interest rate charged on Federal Reserve loans to banks and other financial institutions. It was the fourth cut in the Fed's loan rate since July 19. Unlike the previous reductions, however, the latest move by the Fed did not spark a sharp drop in interest rates. By late in the day, Treasury bill rates were lower, but most other short- and long-term rates were higher.

In the world of children's books and bedtime stories, the Little Red Lighthouse underneath the George Washington Bridge has been warning boats away from the rocks in the Hudson River for years. It has stayed ''round and fat'' and ''red and jolly'' and, of course, ''very, very proud.'' But in the real world, the Little Red Lighthouse was closed by the Coast Guard when the bridge opened in 1932. Its doors have been welded shut; its concrete base has cracked, and its sides have been, more often than not, covered in graffiti.

Addressing a multitude of over 350,000 worshipers at the nation's holiest shrine, the Roman Catholic Primate of Poland demanded today that the authorities free Lech Walesa. The Primate, Archbishop Jozef Glemp, said the Government must also make other concessions to bring about a reconciliation with an ''angry'' people. With an eye on anti-Government demonstrations planned for next week on the anniversary of the Gdansk agreements that recognized the Solidarity union headed by Mr. Walesa, the Archbishop repeatedly sounded an appeal for calm. He called on Poles not to take to the streets but to submerge their anger in the consolation of prayer.

Defense Minister Ariel Sharon defended Israel's invasion of Lebanon yesterday, picturing it as a new opening for peace in the Middle East and playing down his Government's rift with the Reagan Administration over the conduct of the conflict. In an hourlong, extemporaneous address in New York City to leaders of American Jewish groups, Mr. Sharon said the departure of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Beirut raised the prospect of ''peaceful coexistence'' with the Palestinians. He said it could enable Lebanon to become the second Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel. He complained that newspapers and television news programs had exaggerated civilian casualties in Lebanon and had ignored Lebanese deaths caused by the P.L.O. and the Syrians. He said the news organizations were ''not so sensitive'' about the killing of Jews.

Security Pacific National Bank, the nation's ninth-largest bank, said yesterday that it had received approval from the Comptroller of the Currency to expand its discount stock brokerage business across state lines. The Los Angeles-based bank was already offering discount brokerage services at its branches throughout California. Yesterday's ruling, the first such approval granted by the Comptroller, permits the bank to set up a new subsidiary, Security Pacific Discount Brokerage Services Inc., that could provide stock brokerage services outside the state. Allowing banks to enter the securities business is a contentious issue among securities firms, which argue for a strict interpretation of the Glass-Steagall Act, which has separated some banking and investment banking activities since the early 1930's.