A tale of the haves and the have nots in trading emerged for Wall Street's largest banks this week, but in traditional investment banking all were able to cheer the impact of big-ticket dealmaking in the first quarter.

Increased client activity and market volatility in the first three months of the year helped lift fixed income and equities trading performance at some of the banks, while large mergers and acquisitions and related capital markets work fuelled activity at traditional investment banking units.