Morgan Stanley rounded off a stellar first quarter for Wall Street firms with record results and a 130% surge in advisory fees as US investment banks have reaped rewards from an unprecedented start to the year.

The US investment bank beat its rivals with a 128% surge in fees during the first quarter, fuelled by its prized equity capital markets unit, which gained 350% on the same period last year as initial public offerings and a boom in so-called blank-cheque companies pushed revenues to all-time highs.