Goldman posts sharp profit drop

Mighty Goldman Sachs couldn’t escape the issue that pulled down profits at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.

The venerable investment bank reported Tuesday that weakness in its trading business helped yank quarterly profit down almost 13%, falling short of Wall Street’s targets. Fewer swings in the financial markets as the economy stabilized resulted in lackluster trading volumes. That pummeled its equities trading business.

That’s significant because Goldman gets roughly a third of its overall revenue from its global markets business that houses the trading unit.

Also like its rivals, Goldman’s trading slump overshadowed a 45% jump in investment banking revenue. Driving that higher: record fees earned by advising on IPOs, big mergers, and deals involving special purpose acquisition companies.

That was one of two bright spots. Its new consumer bank, Marcus saw revenue grow 8%, reflecting higher credit card balances.

But investors punished Goldman, sending its shares down 8% in early trading Tuesday.