Royal Bank of Canada's (RY.TO) stock sagged more than 3 percent on Friday, as the bank reported a disappointing quarterly profit and said weak market conditions would likely continue to weigh on its markets-related revenue. Speaking on a conference call, executives said weak markets meant wealth management returns could suffer and the bank could be hard pressed to meet trading revenue expectations of C$700 million to C$900 million a quarter going forward. "Banks around the world are facing ... significant headwinds, such as a slowdown in consumer lending, and the added difficulty of operating in a prolonged low interest rate environment," said Gord Nixon, the bank's chief executive, who mentioned the forecast in May. "If trading revenues continue to be as volatile and illiquid as they are right now, it's going to be very difficult to meet those objectives."
Shares of RY fell by 2.65% or $-1.36/share to $49.91. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $46.04 and as high as $63.59. On average, 905017 shares of RY exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1486426.
