Goldman Sachs fourth-quarter profit falls 10 percent

Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs reported a 10 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings Friday, hurt by a fall in trading activity.

The bank earned $2.03 billion, or $4.38 a share, for the three-month period ending in December. That compares with a profit of $2.25 billion, or $4.60 a share, in the same period a year earlier.

The bank cited a slowdown in trading activity in its fixed income, currency and commodities division for the profit decline. It also blamed a slowdown in investment bank underwriting.

Total revenues reached $7.69 billion, down from $8.78 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected Goldman to earn $4.32 a share on $7.66 billion in sales and revenue.

Shares of Goldman were marginally lower in pre-market trading to $178.49.