Soaring trade war volatility propelled Goldman Sachs to its best quarter of stock trading ever

The historic bout of volatility in the second quarter brought historic profits for Goldman Sachs stock traders.

In its latest earnings report, the Wall Street giant said it saw its best-ever quarter for stock trading last quarter, when the market tanked on Donald Trump’s tariffs and then staged a record-breaking rebound after the president paused the trade war for 90 days.

Goldman’s equities trading revenue rose 36% to a record $4.3 billion in the last quarter. Its fixed income, currencies and commodities revenue also rose 9% to a record $3.4 billion, according to its results posted early Wednesday.

The bank’s total revenue for the quarter rose 15% to $14.5 billion, beating estimates by around $1.1 billion. Its profits also surged 22% to around $3.72 billion.

“Our strong results for the quarter reflected healthy client activity levels across our businesses, our differentiated franchise positions and the talent and commitment of our people. At this time, the economy and markets are generally responding positively to the evolving policy environment,” David Solomon, the CEO, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Shares of Goldman Sachs rose 1% in premarket trading as investors awaited for more commentary in the company’s earnings call.

Big banks have broadly posted positive results for the second quarter as they cashed in on surging volatility across assets.

JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley also topped profit estimates when reporting their results on Tuesday and early Wednesday. Bank of America posted mixed results, beating on earnings but falling slightly short on revenue estimates.