New York - US investment bank Morgan Stanley reported Wednesday its third straight quarterly loss, saying it went 1.3 billion dollars into the red in the second quarter.

The figure for the period ending June 30 compares with a nearly 1.1 billion dollar profit in the second quarter of 2008 and follows on losses of 1 billion dollars in the first quarter.

The bank said that the second quarter figure reflected the costs of repaying massive federal assistance known as the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP). Adjusted for that and other one-off costs, the second quarter red ink was 159 million dollars.

Morgan Stanley's figures compare with the strong results posted by its main competitor Goldman Sachs, which last week reported a second quarter profit of 2.7 billion dollars. (dpa)