Trump disrupts global markets, Wall Street's major banks profit immensely amid "turmoil"!

The global market turmoil triggered by Trump's tariff policy has created record trading revenues for Wall Street's largest banks, with several major banks achieving historic breakthroughs in trading business in the second quarter.

The latest financial reports show that JPMorgan Chase's stock trading division recorded its best second-quarter performance ever, while Citigroup's trading division achieved its best performance for the same period in five years. Trading revenues for each bank easily surpassed analysts' expectations, and even investment banking business performed better than expected, despite market volatility typically suppressing trading activity.

Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser stated during the earnings call, "Volatility will be a characteristic of the new world order rather than a flaw, and we will benefit from it."

Trading Revenues Reach Historic Highs

JPMorgan Chase's fixed income trading division generated $5.69 billion in revenue in the second quarter, significantly exceeding expectations, while stock trading revenue reached $3.25 billion, setting a second-quarter record and continuing the historical high achieved in the first three months of this year.

Citigroup's stock trading revenue reached $1.61 billion, and fixed income trading business surged 20% to $4.27 billion, exceeding forecasts. The trading revenues of Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup all saw significant year-on-year growth.

JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum expressed some surprise at the resilience of market revenues in the latter half of the second quarter during the analyst call. He noted that while revenues increased significantly, resource utilization also rose sharply, with banks investing substantial capital and other resources in this business.

Investment Banking Business Unexpectedly Recovers

Despite market turmoil typically introducing uncertainty to trading valuations and the reliability of corporate performance, signs of a long-awaited trading rebound have emerged in the banking sector.

JPMorgan Chase's investment banking fee income grew by 7%, while analysts had previously expected a decline of 14%. CEO Jamie Dimon stated, "Activity started slowly but gained momentum as market sentiment improved."

Citigroup's investment banking business also performed better than expected, with investment banking fees increasing by 13% compared to the second quarter of last year, exceeding $1 billion.

Performance Divergence Among Banks

Wells Fargo did not achieve the same prosperity in the volatile environment. Although the bank's investment banking fees grew by about 9% year-on-year, it fell short of analysts' expectations. Its trading revenues also came in below forecasts.

Wells Fargo CFO Michael Santomassimo noted that market volatility has made clients more cautious in borrowing and investing.

According to CCTV News, Trump stated on Tuesday that he might impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals by the end of the month, and semiconductor tariffs could also be implemented soon, with these import taxes potentially taking effect simultaneously with the broad "reciprocal" tariffs that will be implemented on August 1 Market expectations of increased volatility will continue to create profit opportunities for Wall Street trading departments