Morgan Stanley shares close high as earnings climb

Shares in Morgan Stanley have closed on a high thanks to a rise in earnings.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

Shares in Morgan Stanley rocketed before close of play in New York on Friday (January 18th), as the bank revealed it swung back into profit in the fourth quarter of 2012.

After reporting a loss of $275 million (£173 million) in the October-December period in 2011, it posted a net profit of $481 million over the same three months last year, while revenues jumped by 37 per cent to $7.5 billion).

Morgan Stanley has been cutting its staff numbers as it looks to turn itself around and these recent figures have been hailed as a "pivot point" for the institution.

The bank's chairman and chief executive James Gorman commented: "We demonstrated meaningful progress in our wealth management joint venture, reaching the highest pre-tax margin since the inception of the joint venture."

When Wall Street shut for the weekend on Friday, shares in Morgan Stanley jumped by 7.8 per cent to $22.38 per unit – a fresh 52-week high for the bank.

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