REUTERS - Bank of America Corp reported a 46.8 percent rise in quarterly profit on Friday, kicking off what is expected to be a strong period for U.S. banks following an upswing in market activity in the wake of the U.S. presidential election.
Also helped by a sharp fall in expenses, net income attributable to shareholders of the No. 2 U.S. bank by assets rose to $4.34 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31 from $2.95 billion a year earlier. (http://bit.ly/2j7Aisq)
Earnings per share jumped to 40 cents from 27 cents. Analysts on an average had expected earnings of 38 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, although it was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable.
Excluding a debt valuation adjustment, total sales and trading revenue rose 11 percent in the quarter, spurred by a surge in activity in stock and bond markets following Donald Trump's surprise victory on Nov. 8.
JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank, and Wells Fargo & Co, the biggest mortgage lender, report results later on Friday.
BofA is also the first big U.S. bank to report earnings since the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for only the second time since 2006 on Dec. 14.
(Reporting by Dan Freed in New York and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru)
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