Meanwhile, Citigroup saw revenue generated by its financial product trading surge 24% in the fourth quarter, supported by bonds, currencies, commodities, whose revenues were up 36%.
“Obviously, trading was much stronger than we have originally envisioned, which is unusual,” Citigroup chief financial officer John Gerspach said. “The environment remains good” as clients are reacting “to tax code and pro growth policies.”
The increased trading activity helped strengthen the iShares US Broker-Dealers & Securities Exchanges ETF (NYSEArca: IAI), which added 21.8% over the past three months.
IAI provides exposure to U.S. investment banks, discount brokerages and stock exchanges. Investment banking & brokerage makes up 71.8% of IAI’s holdings, followed by financial exchanges & data 26.6% and asset management & custody banks 1.5%. Top holdings include Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW), CME Group Inc Class A (NYSE: CME) and Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE).
For more information on the financial sector, visit our financial category.