JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest US bank by assets, reported a 6.4% decline in revenue and profit declines in three of its four main businesses last night.
The decline underscores how weak trading markets and low interest rates have hurt banks in recent months.
Like other US banks, JPMorgan has been struggling to increase revenue in the face of weak demand for loans and low interest rates, which have been stuck near zero for overnight funds since December 2008.
Trading was particularly volatile during the quarter as worries about the impact of an economic slowdown in China roiled financial markets.
This discouraged investors from making big bets and muddying the outlook for US interest rates.
The bank's chief financial officer Marianne Lake offered little hope that conditions would improve anytime soon, saying on a conference call that analyst estimates for the current quarter appeared to be too high in light of slow market trading.
The lender, kicking off third-quarter results for big US banks, managed a 22% rise in net income but this was mainly due to a tax benefit and lower spending on employee pay.
The bank said net income fell in its commercial banking, asset management, and corporate and investment banking businesses.
The only unit to post a higher profit was consumer and community banking, where net income rose 4%.
Revenue from trading fixed income, currencies and commodities fell 22.6% to $2.93 billion. Adjusted for the sale of a physical commodities business and other changes, revenue from fixed-income trading would have fallen 11%.
Bank of America and Citigroup, which report today and tomorrow respectively, have said they expect trading revenue to drop about 5% in the quarter.
JP Morgan Chase said its markets and investor services revenue fell 15.6% to $5.41 billion, contributing to a more-than-expected 6.4% drop in overall net revenue to $23.54 billion.
Net income was $6.27 billion, or $1.68 per share, up from $5.13 billion, or $1.35 per share last year. Analysts on average had expected $1.37 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
