Goldman Sachs posted the sharpest drop — 26% — in dealmaking fees of any of its Wall Street rivals in the first quarter, while a 17% decline in fixed income trading also helped push revenue in its investment bank down by 16% during the period.

The Wall Street bank's dealmaking fees slipped in the first three months of the year as a steep drop in M&A activity during the period weighed on its overall investment bank. While rivals including Bank of America, Citi and JPMorgan have all offset dealmaking declines by robust trading revenue, Goldman's fixed income, currencies and commodities unit dropped by 17% during the first quarter, to $3.9bn, and its equities trading unit fell by 6%.