BANKING

Chemical Bank Raises Prime to 6.5%: Chemical Banking Corp. raised its prime lending rate back to 6.50% after other large financial institutions failed to follow its drop to 6.25% nearly two months ago. “We’re bringing it in line with others in the industry,” Chemical spokesman John Meyers said. The prime rate is used to set interest rates on a wide range of business loans. Meyers said Chemical didn’t expect any further easing of interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Chemical, the nation’s third-largest banking company, dropped its prime April 13 after the Federal Reserve Board’s decision days earlier to cut the federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks. But other large banks did not follow suit, maintaining their prime at the 6.5% level.