July 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Monday as comments from two U.S. central bank officials eased fears about a bigger interest rate hike this month, while Suncorp jumped after Australia and New Zealand Bank said it would buy the insurer's banking business.

The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.4% by 1250 GMT, with all sectors except healthcare trading in positive territory. The benchmark had fallen 0.7% on Friday.

Market participants felt relieved after remarks from two U.S. Federal Reserve officials indicated a 75-basis- point rate hike at the central bank's July 26-27 meeting, rather than a full-point increase.

In Australia, energy stocks led the gains for the day, climbing as much as 2.4% after Brent oil prices jumped on Friday.

Miners advanced even after iron ore prices in China slumped 10% on Friday over weak demand outlook in Asia's largest economy.

Index majors Rio Tinto Ltd, Fortescue Metals Group and BHP Group climbed between 0.5% and 2.3%.

Financials climbed about 0.9%, with three of the "big four" banks rising between 0.9% and 1.6%.

Technology stocks added 1%, with Block Inc's Australian shares gaining about 4.3%.

Healthcare stocks were the only laggards, dropping 1.1%.

In corporate news, Australia and New Zealand Bank said it would buy Suncorp's banking operations for A$4.9 billion ($3.34 billion) in a bid to bolster its customer growth and home loan growth.

Shares of the country's fourth-biggest lender were on a trading halt, while those of Suncorp jumped nearly 6% to their highest since May 31.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.4% to 11,181.20.

Consumer inflation outpaced expectations in the second quarter and remained at three-decade highs as price pressures remain widespread.

The consumer price index rose 7.3%, speeding up from a 6.9% gain in the first quarter, and the fastest since the June quarter of 1990 when prices increased 7.6%. ($1 = 1.4676 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)