Morgan Stanley said its profit fell in the first quarter after concerns about the economy sent shivers through the capital markets, limiting Wall Street clients' appetite to trade or make deals.

Net income dropped to $1.13 billion, or 55 cents a share, from $2.39 billion, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a per-share profit of 46 cents.

Revenue tumbled to $7.79 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast $7.87 billion.

Morgan Stanley and other big banks are muddling through a steep slump in their debt-trading business. The downturn prompted the firm to cut jobs from the unit, which has weighed down Morgan Stanley's return on equity, a key measure of banks' profitability. The volatile markets also conspired to weaken investment-banking activity in the first quarter, hurting a division that had been a bright spot last year.

The firm's shares have tumbled 19% this year as investors fretted over Morgan Stanley's ability to weather the slowdown.

Write to Justin Baer at justin.baer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2016 07:25 ET (11:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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