Wall Street titans Lehman Bros. and Goldman Sachs, at the center of a credit storm swirling through the global financial markets, both said Tuesday their first-quarter profits fell more than 50%, as investment-banking business slowed and trading revenues declined.

However, the results came in ahead of analyst expectations for Lehman and Goldman alike, and investors bid their respective shares higher.

Goldman Sachs reported a first-quarter profit that was just about halved from year-ago levels. The firm lost $1 billion on mortgage and other securities investments as its proprietary trading business struggled and as market conditions remained "clearly very weak."

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