BANKING AND FINANCE

Mortgage Rates Rise: Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.63% this week, up from 7.51% last week, according to a nationwide Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. survey. The average was the highest since it was 7.65% in late February, 1993. Rates had reached a 25-year low of 6.74% last October. On annually adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 4.51%, up from 4.48% last week; rates on 15-year mortgages averaged 7.15% this week, up from 7.01% a week earlier. The rates do not include fees known as points.