By Saeed Azhar and Pritam Biswas
NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - Bank of America expects net interest income to grow at least 7% and investment banking fees to climb 10% in the first quarter, its Co-President Dean Athanasia said on Tuesday.
Global markets revenue will rise by a low double-digit percentage this quarter as market volatility fuels its 16th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth, he told a conference in New York.
"We've got the volatility in the capital markets area, and the investment
banking area and wealth management - those are all good revenues," Athanasia said.
Financial stocks rebounded Tuesday after slumping earlier in the week after the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil prices higher and weighed on global equities.
The S&P 500 bank index rose 1.4% on Tuesday, recovering from heavy losses since the war began.
Bank of America, the nation's second-biggest lender, had forecast a 5% to 7% net interest income (NII) growth for the fiscal year 2026. NII is the difference between what a bank earns on loans and pays out on deposits.
U.S. banks have benefited from the repricing of fixed-rate assets and securities portfolios over time into higher-yielding assets. Additionally, the Federal Reserve's rate cuts in late 2025 helped banks reduce deposit costs, allowing them to increase their earnings.
Consumer spending is still rising at a 5% annual rate and credit quality is in good shape, said Athanasia.
The finalization of regulations for global systemically important banks (GSIBs), known as Basel endgame, could mean lower regulatory capital for the bank, he said.
U.S. regulators will unveil in coming weeks long-awaited draft rules that could ultimately shrink the amount of cash lenders must set aside to absorb losses, in a major potential victory for the industry that could unleash billions of dollars in excess capital.
On BofA's technology use, Athanasia said its virtual assistant Erica now handles about 40% of queries from corporate clients, while roughly 90% of employees use it as a help desk and for other internal support.
(Reporting by Saeed Azhar and Pritam Biswas, editing by Lananh Nguyen and Nick Zieminski)
