** Shares of Australian miners .AXMM rise as much as 3%, extending rally into the second day

** Sub-index hits highest level since March 19

** AXMM tracks commodity prices higher, with iron ore rising on the back of recovering hot metal output and aluminium gaining on fears that smelters in China will continue to struggle to ship the metal out MET/L IRONORE/

** BHP Group BHP.AX rises 2.6%, while Rio Tinto RIO.AX gains 2%

** AXMM largely flat so far this year, including the day's move

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))