Goldman Sachs Q4 profit misses estimates on weak equity trading

Goldman Sachs Group Inc profit fell nearly 13% and missed expectations on Tuesday as a less volatile equity market hurt trading business and dampened a bumper year for deals, sending the shares of Wall Street's premier investment bank down 4%.

Bank earnings have been hurt this quarter by weak trading volumes as the Federal Reserve slowed the pace of its asset purchases after an 18-month period in which it pumped liquidity into capital markets to ease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Goldman's trading unit reported a lower profit in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier as a more stable