Morgan Stanley capped a positive earnings season from Wall Street banks with an increase in dealmaking fees, prompting the bank to hike compensation by 4% to match performance.

The Wall Street bank posted investment banking fees of $1.5bn for the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 16% compared with a year earlier. This was the lowest percentage increase of any of its US peers, as a 28% decline in M&A fees offset equity underwriting revenue more than doubling from the same period in 2023.