Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers helped lift the gloom on Wall Street on Tuesday when both reported smaller-than-expected profit declines, easing fears that the liquidity crisis that sank Bear Stearns could spread to other investment banks.

Beyond the results themselves, which easily surpassed expectations, investors cheered comments from both banks about their liquidity positions as well as the absence of any big surprises on leveraged loan or mortgage-related writedowns.