* Financials help Aussie benchmark higher
* Miners fall on plunge in Aluminium prices
* Bauxite miner South32 posts record pct fall
* NZ falls on consumer staples
(Updates to close)
April 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Tuesday, driven by banks as benign inflation data backed expectations interest rates will remain accommodative for some time, but gains were capped by losses in materials on an extended slide in aluminium prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO ended up 0.6 percent or 35.6 points at 5,921.60, extending a 0.3 percent rise on Monday.
Data released earlier in the day showed Australian consumer prices stayed soft last quarter as core inflation began a third year below the central bank's target, cementing expectations any hike in interest rates is a long way off. accounted for most of the gains, with the Australian financial index .AXFJ rising about 1 percent to a near two-week high.
Index heavyweight Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX climbed 1.1 percent, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd ANZ.AX added 0.7 percent.
Conversely, materials accounted for most of the losses, driven down by a slump in aluminium prices.
Bauxite miner South32 Ltd S32.AX slumped 9.6 percent, its biggest one-day percentage fall, while global miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX dropped 2.6 percent.
Iron ore producer Fortescue Metals FMG.AX was also under pressure, falling about 2.4 percent after it reported a 2 percent decline in third-quarter iron ore shipments on reduced demand in China. Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 dipped 0.2 percent or 14.98 points to finish at 8,288.64.
Consumer staples accounted for nearly half of the losses, with a2 Milk Company Ltd ATM.NZ declining nearly about 3 percent, while Synlait Milk SML.NZ fell 2.6 percent.