Pre-tax profits at Merrill Lynch's global markets and investment banking arm soared nearly tenfold to $2.3bn (€1.7bn) in the first quarter driven by strong and broad growth across the bank's businesses and the absence of stock option charges.

Profits at the division powered higher from $216m in the same period last year, when the figures were hit by a $1.4bn pre-tax charge related to the way the bank accounted for stock option compensation.