JPMorgan Chase and Company expects second-quarter revenue from bond and equity trading to decline by about 20 per cent from a year earlier, the biggest US bank by assets said.

The outlook is based on results so far this quarter which "reflect a continued challenging environment and lower client activity," JPMorgan said in a quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Almost all the major Wall Street investment banks reported first-quarter declines in trading revenue from a year earlier.

Revenue from bond trading has persistently declined over the past five years, raising concerns that the business has permanently shrunk and is not just suffering a cyclical downturn from the financial crisis.

JPMorgan, with assets of $2.48 trillion, updated its 2014 outlook for the company and its businesses in the filing made after the stock market closed on Friday.

It affirmed its previous 2014 estimate that adjusted expenses will be below $59 billion, but said the final tab will depend on performance-related compensation.

The company reduced its estimate of possible legal costs for which it has not built reserves to $4.5bn at the end of March, from $5bn three months before, the filing showed.-Reuters