Profits at US banks boosted by higher rates

We're back into earnings season, and, unsurprisingly it's the banks that are attracting most attention - they, are after all, the beneficiaries of the higher interest rates that have come with the Federal Reserve's bid to curb inflation. The first big headline profit result is from JPMorgan Chase - profits for the quarter ending June 30 were $14.5 billion, up 67 percent, while revenues were up 34 percent to $41.3 billion. Part of that was from its purchase of a majority of the failed First Republic Bank's assets in a government-backed deal in May. At Wells Fargo, meanwhile, profits also rose 57 percent to $4.9 billion. Citi however experienced a drop, blaming an anaemic investment banking market as a drag on their revenues.