DUBAI, April 18 (Reuters) - Gulf bourses may have a soft tone on Tuesday after global equities prices slipped, while the latest Saudi Arabian first-quarter bank earnings are mixed.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan is down 0.5 percent on North Korean tensions, while oil prices have barely moved.
Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank, the kingdom’s largest lender, reported a 2.7 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to 2.70 billion riyals ($720 million); SICO Bahrain had forecast 2.39 billion riyals.
But Alawwal Bank made a profit of 324.0 million riyals, down from 511.5 million riyals a year earlier. NCB Capital had projected 376 million riyals and EFG Hermes, 443 million riyals.
Elsewhere, Commercial Bank of Qatar may see selling after it reported a 66.7 percent drop in first-quarter net profit as bad debt charges rose sharply. (Reporting by Andrew Torchia)
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