(Reuters) – BGC Group’s first-quarter profit nearly doubled, it said on Tuesday, as investors looking to navigate the uncertainty around monetary policy pushed trading volumes higher in the brokerage’s rates and energy businesses.
The strong report comes less than a week after the company’s FMX exchange, which is looking to take on derivatives trading giant CME Group, secured a minority investment from 10 financial market giants including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
Investors are hotly debating the trajectory of rate cuts after discouraging signs in the latest inflation and gross domestic product data, which have raised fears that the Federal Reserve may have to keep monetary policy tighter for longer.
The uncertainty has prompted traders to actively rejig portfolios across asset classes to maximize returns and hedge against risk.
Revenue in BGC’s rates unit jumped 6.3%, while the energy, commodities and shipping business rose 32.1% from a year ago.
Net income jumped to $46.4 million, or 10 cents a share, for the three months ended March 31, from $24.2 million, or 5 cents per share, last year.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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