Morgan Stanley profit falls, though beats expectations on the strength of asset sales

Morgan Stanley on Wednesday reported second-quarter profit plunged 61 percent as the credit crisis continued to take its toll on trading and investment banking.

Shares fell almost 7 percent in premarket trading on the report, even though results came in slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations.

The nation's second-largest investment bank reported profit fell to $1.01 billion, or 95 cents per share, after paying preferred dividends, from $2.57 billion, or $2.45 per share, a year earlier. Revenue dropped to $6.51 billion from $10.52 billion last year.

Morgan Stanley was able to beat Wall Street's already lowered expectations by raising $1.4 …