OREANDA-NEWS. February 12, 2015. Weak oil prices and disappointing dividends dragged down Saudi Arabia's stock market in early trade on Wednesday while Egypt edged down in a broad pull-back.

Brent crude dropped by \\$1.91 in the previous session as the International Energy Agency warned that ample global production would swell world inventories before investment cuts began to dent output significantly. Oil edged up on Wednesday, but its gains were small compared with Tuesday's loss.

Saudi Arabia's main equities index fell 0.7 percent as petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries lost 0.9 percent and Al Rajhi Bank was down 0.7 percent.

Company for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya) was another major drag, tumbling 6.9 percent. The firm announced a cash dividend of 1.45 riyals per share on Wednesday, much lower than its 2012 payout of 3.5 riyals, even though its 2014 profit was much higher than that for 2012. The firm posted a loss and paid no dividend for 2013.

Meanwhile, Egypt's market edged down 0.6 percent as Commercial International Bank slipped 0.2 percent despite posting strong fourth-quarter earnings. Most other stocks were also in the red.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Andrew Torchia)