Bank of America's Profit Rises Despite Drag From Lower Rates, As Wall Street Floats on A Frothy Market

Especially strong trading results played a part in that. This, along with buoyant performance from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. on Friday, also gave investors hope that Wall Street's core trading engine may have finally stopped sputtering.

At all three banks, the trading gains helped make up for less impressive results in consumer banking and the ever-present pressure of superlow interest rates. But even if this was the second consecutive quarter in which trading activity was solid, analysts questioned how long gains would last.

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It also isn't clear whether Wall Street banks simply are profiting from trouble in Europe. Rivals there, notably Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse AG, have been forced to scale back some trading activities. Bank of America's chief executive, Brian Moynihan, said Monday the bank had benefited from "global peers restructuring," but he wasn't specific.