US brokerage and a leading investment bank Merrill Lynch said today quarterly profit soared 61 per cent as bond trading and wider profit margins helped boost results.
Merrill reported second-quarter net income of $1.02 billion for the quarter compared with $634 million in the same quarter last year.
Merrill, which manages $1.4 trillion in client assets, said revenue from principal transactions, which include trades for its own account, jumped 51 per cent from a year ago, to $1.1 billion.
Fixed-income business has been a saviour for many Wall Street firms in recent quarters as falling interest rates have spurred new bond issuance and more trading activity.