July 8 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in European

and global markets from Wayne Cole.

All the hand-wringing about a far-right victory in France

looks to have been premature, with polls suggesting the leftist

New Popular Front alliance gained the most seats, though well

short of a majority.

Polling agencies - which are generally accurate - forecast

the left would get 184-198 seats in the 577-seat assembly, with

President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance at 160-169 and

Marine Le Pen's nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally (RN) and

its allies on 135-143.

Analysts assume Macron will try to govern with the

cooperation of the left, though exactly what that will look like

in practice is uncertain.

The crunch will come in the autumn when the new government

has to present the 2025 budget, and analysts suspect it will do

little to address France's fiscal deficit and a debt load worth

112% of GDP.

That outlook tempered the initial relief that the far right

did not take power, and left the euro down around 0.1% at

$1.0826. French bond futures were also a fraction

lower, with the market reaction limited so far.

Equities were generally underpinned by a growing confidence

the Federal Reserve will cut rates in September following the

soft June payrolls report.

Futures now imply a 76% chance of an easing on Sept.

18, with 53 basis points of easing priced in for this year, up

from around 40 basis points a month ago.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have chance to offer his

outlook when he appears before Congress on Tuesday and

Wednesday, while several other Fed officials are speaking this

week.

Earnings season also kicks off this week with JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

, Citigroup ( C/PN ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) reporting on

Friday. PepsiCo ( PEP ) and Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) also report.

The S&P 500 is trading at about 21 times forward earnings

estimates, but if the top 10 stocks by market value are excluded

that figure drops to 16.5 on average for the rest of the index.

Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:

- Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member

Jonathan Haskel gives a speech

- Spain's Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo to speak at Europa

Press event

- German trade figures for May, Euro Zone Sentix Index for

July