Goldman Sachs profit falls 2 pct as trading revenue drops

REUTERS - Goldman Sachs Group Inc's quarterly profit fell 2 percent as weak bond-trading volumes hit revenue in the Wall Street bank's biggest business.

The fifth-largest U.S. bank by assets reported a third-quarter profit of $1.43 billion, or $2.88 per share. This compared with a profit of $1.46 billion, or $2.85 per share, a year earlier.

Goldman increased its quarterly dividend to 55 cents per share from 50.

Fixed-income trading was muted for several weeks leading up to the Federal Reserve's meeting in mid-September amid speculation that the central bank was about to start winding down its bond-buying stimulus program.

(Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York and Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)