* Aussie shares led higher by miners as aluminium prices firm
* AMP limits gains, down 4.4 pct
* NZ down 0.3 pct, with telcos, dairy stocks in red
By Chris Thomas
April 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Tuesday, supported by the materials and consumer sectors even as some pressure was exerted by a slide in wealth manager AMP Ltd in the wake of fresh revelations from a judicial inquiry about misdeeds in the industry.
Sentiment overall was also bolstered by gains on Wall Street as the focus shifted to corporate earnings and economic data from China amid signs Western-led strikes on Syria were a one-off event. MKTS/GLOB
Official data showed GDP growth in China - Australia's major trading partner - came in at 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018 from a year earlier, slightly above expectations and unchanged from the previous quarter. S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.3 percent or 15.4 points to 5,856.7 by 0232 GMT. The benchmark rose 0.2 percent on Monday.
Strong aluminium prices lifted miner South32 Ltd S32.AX as much as 2.5 percent to a two-month high, and Alumina Ltd AWC.AX 4.1 percent to a nine-and-a-half year top.
Concerns about aluminium supply after Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) declared force majeure on some customer contracts in the wake of sanctions imposed by the United States on its Russian partner Rusal pushed aluminium prices to their highest since 2011. MET/L
Whitehaven Coal WHC.AX rose as much as 4.9 percent after it said strong demand for thermal coal propped up third-quarter sales. Ltd WES.AX was among the top contributors to the index, up as much as 1.7 percent after it confirmed it did not own shares in troubled New Zealand builder Fletcher Building FBU.NZ . were tempered by falls in Australia's largest wealth manager AMP Ltd AMP.AX .
AMP dropped 4.4 percent after an inquiry heard the company lied to the country's corporate watchdog for almost a decade to cover its widespread practice of charging customers for services it did not provide. inquiry began last month and is currently focusing on the provision of financial advice by AMP and the four largest banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX , Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX , National Australia Bank NAB.AX , and Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX .
Shares of CBA, however, were up as much as 0.7 percent.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.3 percent or 20.97 points to 8,385.38, dragged by telecom, dairy, and industrial stocks.
Spark New Zealand SPK.NZ fell as much as 1.2 percent, while a2 Milk Company ATM.NZ shed 1.3 percent.
Auckland International Airport AIA.NZ slipped 0.9 percent.