JEDDAH/DUBAI — Major regional stocks markets were mixed in narrow ranges on Wednesday as caution over companies' upcoming second-quarter earnings announcements outweighed the positive effect of a rebound in oil prices.

Brent crude futures rose 40 cents to $50.60 a barrel by the afternoon after rallying more than 3 percent on Tuesday. But many investors are preoccupied with the earnings season; so far, it has been uninspiring for the markets.

The Saudi stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index index dropped 0.4 percent to 7,200 points in thin trade. Most petrochemical stocks rose moderately on the back of the oil price increase and Sipchem jumped 4.1 percent after saying quarterly profit more than quintupled to 59.8 million riyals ($15.9 million), beating analysts' average forecast of 33.49 million riyals.

But National Industrialization (Tasnee) slipped 4.9 percent after reporting second-quarter net profit rose only 7 percent to 93.6 million riyals, below analysts' forecast of 129.7 million riyals.

Retailer United Electronics gained 5.6 percent; it reported quarterly net profit jumped to 43.4 million riyals from 11 million riyals, roughly doubling forecasts by EFG Hermes and NCB Capital, as it cited higher sales and wider margins on some products.

Saudi British Bank edged down 0.4 percent after posting a 1.9 percent drop in its second-quarter net profit to 1.13 billion riyals), at the high end of the forecasts of analysts, who had predicted 1.01 billion riyals.

Elsewhere, Dubai's index rose 0.4 percent in shrinking trading volume. Islamic Arab Insurance and Dubai Islamic Insurance, which had dominated volume as they surged on Tuesday, remained active but fell back slightly.

Qatar's index edged down 0.1 percent as Barwa Real Estate lost 0.9 percent after it reported first-half net profit fell to 912 million riyals ($250.5 million) from 1.20 billion riyals.

Al Meera Consumer Goods continued to attract unusually high trading volumes, rising 1.9 percent after a 5.8 percent jump on Tuesday.

In Egypt, meanwhile, the blue-chip index gained 0.4 percent broad EGX100 edged down 0.1 percent. — SG/Reuters