The continued decline of fixed income, currencies and commodities trading was underlined today when JP Morgan kicked off the full year reporting season with news that revenues from the division had fallen for the third quarter in a row. The news comes just days after rival Goldman Sachs hinted it would switch focus from FICC back to traditional investment banking.

Analysts had expected lacklustre fixed income trading results, and the bank confirmed today that fourth-quarter revenues from fixed income markets, while higher than a year earlier, dropped by 8% from the third quarter to $2.9bn, compounding a 14% drop for the full year. Overall revenues from fixed income markets were $15bn for the year.