US banks braced for slump in profits
US banks with Wall Street operations are bracing for a slump in trading profits this year after the third quarter got off to a poor start, with global economic uncertainty and Europe's sovereign debt woes leading to a slowdown in market activity in July.
Bank of America Corp , the second-largest US bank, on Monday said first-quarter profit fell 77 percent, hurt by trading losses and a $3.3 billion increase in reserves for credit problems.