Australian, N.Z. Stocks: James Hardie, Restaurant Brands, The Reject Shop

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.3 percent to 4,617.5 at the 4:10 p.m. close of trading in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index rose 0.6 percent to 3,236.76 in Wellington.

The following were among the most active shares in the market today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

Australia:

James Hardie Industries (JHX AU), the biggest seller of home siding in the U.S., jumped 3.1 percent to A$5.72 after U.S. homebuilder Lennar Corp. reported better-than-estimated profit, boosting optimism in the global economic recovery.

Fletcher Building Ltd. (FBU NZ), New Zealand’s largest supplier of building products that gets about half its revenue from abroad, gained 1.9 percent to NZ$8.66 in Wellington.

The Reject Shop Ltd. (TRS AU) lost 0.5 percent to A$17.41. The discount retailer was downgraded to “neutral” from “outperform” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

New Zealand:

Restaurant Brands New Zealand Ltd. (RBD NZ), which operates the nation’s KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks franchises, climbed 3.2 percent to NZ$2.59. The company reported second-quarter sales rose 3.7 percent amid record turnover at its fried chicken outlets.

To contact the reporter for this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net.