May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell for a second day, reversing an earlier gain. Building materials stocks, such as CSR Ltd. and Boral Ltd., declined after building approvals unexpectedly slid in March.

``Any stock linked to construction is going to hurt because it's clear we're nearing the end of the building cycle,'' said Hans Kunnen, who helps manage the equivalent of $15 billion at Colonial First State Investments in Sydney.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, the world's biggest and third- biggest miners, slid after copper prices declined.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 21.0, or 0.5 percent, to 3990.20 as of 12:39 p.m. in Sydney. About four stocks fell for every one that rose. The index earlier rose as much as 0.5 percent.

A measure of materials stocks, including miners and building materials suppliers, fell 0.8 percent, the biggest contributor to the benchmark's decline.

CSR, the nation's largest maker of plasterboard, slid 6 cents, or 2.5 percent, to A$2.31. Boral, Australia's biggest seller of building materials, dropped 7 cents, or 1.2 percent, to A$5.73.

The number of approvals granted to build houses and apartments or start renovations dropped 6.8 percent from February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, after the central bank boosted borrowing costs to the highest in four years. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 20 economists was for approvals to be unchanged.

BHP fell 19 cents, or 1.2 percent, to A$16.25. Rio Tinto sank 29 cents, or 0.7 percent, to A$42.10.

Copper futures in New York fell 0.4 percent amid rising exchange inventories and as buyers in China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal, take a weeklong national holiday.

New Zealand's NZSX 50 Index gained 0.1 percent to 3003.21 as of 2:38 p.m. in Wellington. Telecom Corp., which accounts for a quarter of the benchmark index, rose.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index's futures contract for June lost 0.4 percent to 3995. The broader All Ordinaries Index fell 0.6 percent to 3988.0.

The following stocks also rose or fell. The stock symbols are in brackets after the company names.

Australian stocks:

New listings: Transpacific Industries Group Ltd. (TPI AU), and industrial cleaning services company, rose 18 cents, or 7.5 percent, to A$2.58 on its first day of trading after selling shares at A$2.40 apiece.

Echelon Resources Ltd. (ECH AU), a Perth-based minerals explorer, surged 5 cents, or 25 percent, to 25 cents after selling shares at 20 cents apiece.

AED Oil Ltd. (AED AU), a Melbourne-based oil field developer which changed its name from Australian Energy Developments Ltd., fell 16 cents, or 19 percent, to 69 cents. It fell as much as 22 percent in its trading debut after the company raised A$55 million ($43 million) in an initial public offering.

Oil producers: Crude oil prices in New York rose 2.4 percent to $50.92 a barrel after Algeria's energy minister Chakib Khelil said that global fuel demand remains ``very strong.'' Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), Australia's second-biggest oil producer, added 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, to A$23.62. Santos Ltd. (STO AU), the nation's third-biggest oil producer, gained 11 cents, or 1.2 percent, to A$9.32.

Corporate Express Australia Ltd. (CXP AU) slumped 60 cents, or 10 percent, to A$5.40, its lowest since October last year and cutting its market value to A$1.03 billion. The office products distributor said net profit for the three months ended March 31 rose 4.8 percent to A$13 million on a 7.2 percent sales gain to A$248 million.

``The margin pressure experienced in the first quarter is expected to remain throughout the year,'' said the company, which is 51 percent owned by Netherlands-based Buhrmann NV.

Emperor Mines Ltd. (EMP AU), which owns a gold mine in Fiji, plunged 8 cents, or 19 percent, to 35 cents. The company said yesterday production delays and lower-than-expected ore grades were slowing production.

Hardman Resources Ltd. (HDR AU), a partner in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s Mauritanian oil exploration ventures, climbed a cent, or 0.6 percent, to A$1.73. UBS AG raised its recommendation to ``buy'' from ``neutral'' on the likely earlier start of an oil project and its exploration plans. Gordon Ramsay, an analyst at Sydney-based UBS, also raised his estimate of Hardman's 2006 earnings by 14 percent to A$32.8 million ($26 million) due to the revised timing of the Chinguetti project.

St.George Bank Ltd. (SGB AU), Australia's best-performing bank stock in the past year, climbed 37 cents, or 1.5 percent, to A$25.30. The company forecast full-year earnings per share growth of 11 percent, up from 10 percent previously and said first-half profit rose 18 percent to a record after it loaned more to businesses and stock market gains boosted wealth management earnings.

New Zealand stocks:

Fletcher Building Ltd. (FBU NZ), the nation's biggest building products maker, fell 4 cents, or 0.6 percent, to NZ$6.18 after a government report showed Australian building approvals unexpectedly declined 6.8 percent in March from February after the central bank raised borrowing costs. Fletcher Building makes 35 percent of its sales in Australia.

Telecom Corp. (TEL NZ), which makes up 26 percent of New Zealand's benchmark stock index, rose a cent, or 0.2 percent, to NZ$6.11. Telecom is expected on May 6 to report a 2.6 percent rise in third-quarter profit to NZ$238 million ($174 million), according to the median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter for this story: Stuart Kelly in Sydney skelly22@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 2, 2005 22:53 EDT