Wall street
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Weakness across capital markets, including syndicated lending, equity issuance, and merger and acquisition activity is hitting Wall Street, with global investment banking revenues dropping in the first quarter, according to new data from LSEG Data & Analytics.

Global investment banking fees were down 8% in the first quarter, on both a year-over-year and a quarter-over-quarter basis, to $28.2 billion (all figures in U.S. dollars), the firm reported.

The drop came as fees from all the major investment banking categories suffered declines.

Fees from syndicated lending were down 14% in the quarter to $5.9 billion, equity underwriting fees dropped 10% to $3.3 billion, M&A fees were down 6% to $7.9 billion, and debt underwriting fees fell 5% to $11 billion.

By sector, the fees generated from the financial industry, which is the largest source of investment banking revenues, dropped by 8% in the first quarter to $9.4 billion. 

The healthcare sector registered the largest drop, with fees down 45% year-over-year, followed closely by the real estate sector, where fees declined 43%, the report said.

By contrast, the fees generated from the tech sector rose by 31% in the quarter to just under $2.7 billion.  

In the global investment bank rankings, JP Morgan continued to lead the way, followed by Goldman Sachs & Co., with Morgan Stanley taking third place, up one spot from the first quarter of 2024. BofA Securities slipped to fourth, while Citi held onto fifth place.

A handful of Canadian firms also climbed the global rankings, with RBC Capital Markets edging up to ninth place from 10th spot last year; TD Securities Inc. ranking 13th, up from 15th place last year; and, BMO Capital Markets taking 18th place, up from 23rd in 2024.