SABIC, the largest company on the Saudi bourse, fell 3.2 percent, its biggest drop since Aug. 7 and second straight decline following Monday's 28-month high.
The state-linked firm's quarterly profit rose 27 percent to $1.55 billion, narrowly below analyst forecasts.
"While the reported numbers reflect a strong operating environment, the market might be slightly disappointed...given the increase in fertilizer and petchem prices from Q3 to Q4," Mahdi Mattar, head of research & chief economist at CAPM Investment, wrote in a research note.
"While (SABIC'S) valuation seems full and the room for further earnings growth is limited, we expect the stock to perform well if oil prices remain in this range."
On Wednesday, SABIC said it expected higher profitability and sales in 2011 as petrochemical prices rise to pre-crisis levels.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) dropped 0.86 percent to a two-week low of 6,657.73 points. The sector activity for the day was mostly negative with 3 gaining sectors against 12 losing sector. The losing sectors ranged from 0.06 percent by the Industrial Investment sector to 1.88 percent by the Petrochemical Industries sector. On the other hand the gaining sectors were the Media and Publishing sector with 0.05 percent, the Retail sector with 0.24 percent, and the Agriculture & Food Industries sector with 0.49 percent. The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 47 advancers against 77 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.61, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
The liquidity for the day reached SR3.82 billion on Wednesday.
Egypt's benchmark index fell 0.7 percent to 6,645 points — an 11-week low, taking its losses to 7.1 percent this week.
Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties fell 2.9 percent, resuming a decline sparked by its unveiling of a restructuring plan that will be dilutive to shareholders and also includes $2.9 billion in impairments. The Abu Dhabi index slipped 0.1 percent 2,676 points.
Dubai's index fell 0.2 percent to 1,619 points.
It is down 74 percent from a January 2008 peak as similar declines in Dubai house prices and the emirate's debt problems stymie investor hopes that shares will rebound.
Shares in Doha Bank fell 3 percent after the lender's fourth-quarter profit missed estimates and it announced plans for a 15 percent capital increase, weighing on Qatar's index, which made its largest decline in eight weeks. The Doha index fell 1.3 percent to 9,081 points.
The Kuwaiti index eased 0.04 percent to 6,916 points.
The Omani index slipped 0.2 percent to 6,990 points.
The Bahraini index fell 0.05 percent to 1,425 points.
