The biggest deal in the local banking space in over a decade headlines this week trading action, but a swathe of commodity stocks covering iron ore, energy, critical minerals, and gold will come into focus with quarterly reports pencilled in this week.

Economic Calendar and News

Tuesday sees the release of the minutes from June monetary policy meeting held by the Reserve Bank of Australia, while the central bank Deputy Governor, Michele Bullock, and Governor, Philip Lowe, are scheduled to speak at separate business events this week.

It highly likely the two figureheads will be pressed on the monetary policy outlook, particularly whether the bank might be open to a 75 basis point hike at its next meeting in early August.

While earnings are expected to be the focus in the US this week, there is a trickle of economic info set to come through, so look out for data on building permits, housing starts, existing home sales, as well as manufacturing and services activity.Also overseas, the Bank of Japan will hold its own monetary policy meeting, although interest rates are not tipped to rise, whereas the European Central Bank is forecast to take action and raise cash rates by 25 basis points.

Stocks on watch

ANZ (ASX: ANZ) and Suncorp (ASX: SUN) are making news this morning as the Big Four bank makes a play for the banking division of the general insurer. The bid is valued at $4.9 billion, which would make it the largest acquisition deal in the banking space since Westpac successfully took over St George, and may also dampen last week reported interest in lobbing a takeover at MYOB.

To fund the deal, ANZ is conducting a renounceable entitlement offer at $18.90 per share that will bring in $3.5 billion, which will in turn provide the bank with access to the $60 billion in loans held by Suncorp, mostly across the Queensland and New South Wales housing markets. First, however, the deal will need to receive the tick of approval from the ACCC, as well as the federal Treasurer and it is subject to Queensland legislation.

Weaker iron ore prices may have a drag on the ASX at the start of the new week, with the commodity dropping below US$100 per tonne for the first time since the end of 2021. With the price of the key steel-making ingredient last trading at US$96.60 per tonne, names like Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) will be on watch.

Meanwhile, with copper hitting its lowest price since November, 2020, BHP (ASX: BHP) is also dealing with a number of headwinds at this time, and its operational review for FY22 is due tomorrow. Other copper stocks facing negative sentiment of late include Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR), OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL), and even South32 (ASX: S32).

The energy sector is also in the spotlight this week as oil and gas heavyweights report their quarterly production results. Beach Energy (ASX: BPT) will kick things off on Wednesday, followed a day later by Woodside Energy Group (ASX: WDS) and Santos (ASX: STO). Although inflation is expected to flow through to costs for these companies, they are also set to benefit from soaring energy prices in the June quarter, with Brent crude averaging above US$120 per barrel throughout the period, and LNG spot prices at elevated levels.

ASX-listed coal stocks like New Hope (ASX: NHC) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) enjoyed a run of good fortune last week on optimism about thawing relations between Australia and China, with China reportedly weighing up the removal of its import ban on Australian coal. Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has also added weight to the move, pushing for the action to serve as the starting point for restoring trade between the nations. 

Whitehaven reports its June production figures tomorrow, while on a not too dissimilar note, critical minerals duo Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: KYC) and Allkem (ASX: ALE) will also hand down updates, and gold trio Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM), Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST), and Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) will each report from the middle of the week.

Gold prices continued to retreat heading into the weekend, just as inflationary pressure takes hold.In the US, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) both have earnings reports locked in for Tuesday and Wednesday US-time respectively. They will be accompanied by the likes of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS).