JPMorgan kicked off a closely watched third-quarter earnings season with a surge in trading revenues and a vast reduction in provisions put aside to tackle the impact of Covid-19. 

Its corporate and investment bank was again a big driver of revenues, as profits across the firm increased by 4% to $9.4bn, well ahead of analysts’ expectations, according to a consensus from FactSet. Meanwhile, money put aside to cover bad loans — which surged to $10.2bn in the previous quarter — came in at $611m, down 60% on the previous year.