* US stock futures firm as Brent slides 8%

* Iran says it will halt attacks as long as US does

* Yields, dollar dip as market pares chance of Fed hike

(Updates with U.S. pre-open prices, changes analysts' quote)

By Wayne Cole and Sruthi Shankar

July 27 (Reuters) - Stock and bond markets across the globe

staged a relief rally on Monday as easing Middle East tensions

sent oil prices sliding and soothed inflation worries ahead of a

packed week of central bank meetings and earnings reports.

U.S. President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing

campaign against Iran, with U.S. officials reportedly concerned

over the depletion of air defence weapons. Iran said it would

pause its own attacks for as long as the U.S. holds fire.

The lull in fighting over the Strait of Hormuz saw Brent

crude slide 7.8% to $89.41 a barrel, while U.S. crude

dropped nearly 7% to $83.2.

Europe's STOXX 600 climbed 0.9%, closing in on

early July's all-time highs. Economically sensitive retail

and travel stocks rallied more than 2%, although

a drop in oil stocks weighed on the broader market.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.9% and Nasdaq futures

jumped 1.4%, setting up Wall Street for an upbeat start.

Most major currencies advanced against the dollar, as

traders slightly pared back the probability of rate hikes from

the Federal Reserve this week.

The euro edged up 0.2% to $1.139 and the dollar

dipped 0.2% against the yen to 163.64.

The U.S. central bank's decision is due on Wednesday and

markets imply around a one-in-three chance of a rate rise,

though most analysts doubt Chair Kevin Warsh would be in favour

of such a move.

"Since the last FOMC meeting, inflation, labour market and

consumption data have all been sufficiently comfortable to

prevent the need for aggressive hiking. What was also a source

of comfort was that the oil price was closer to $70 than $100,"

said Samy Chaar, chief economist at Lombard Odier.

Chaar said the relatively elevated oil price creates a

window for the hawks at the U.S. central bank to push for rate

hikes. "But we're not there yet. I think it depends on how long

the tensions in the Middle East persist," he added.

The pullback in oil helped 10-year Treasury yields

fall 4.3 basis points to 4.64% on Monday, moving

further below last week's 18-month high and set for their

largest one-day fall since June 24. European government bond

yields also fell across the board.

The Bank of England will announce its policy decision on

Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday, and both are expected

to hold steady, while remaining cautious about inflation risks

ahead.

TECH EARNINGS TO TEST BULLS

About one-third of S&P 500 companies report results this

week, with earnings on track to boast a 26.5% increase over last

year, according to LSEG IBES data.

With expectations so high and mounting unease over the vast

cost of AI capex, even blockbuster results may not be enough to

please investors.

The massive sums involved were underlined by a Wall Street

Journal report that Nvidia ( NVDA ) was in talks to provide a

roughly $250-billion backstop for OpenAI as part of a data

centre project.

Companies reporting this week include tech darlings

Microsoft ( MSFT ), Meta Platforms ( META ), Amazon ( AMZN ),

Apple ( AAPL ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM ), along with a host of

industrial, defence and healthcare stocks.

Yet, in a sign of insatiable demand for anything AI, Chinese

chipmaker CXMT Corp soared 466% in its Shanghai

trading debut on Monday following Asia's biggest IPO this year.

Data highlights include U.S. advance second-quarter GDP with

growth expected to pick up to an annualised 1.5% after a soft

start to the year. The June PCE price index, personal income and

consumption, weekly jobless claims, second quarter employment

cost index and July Michigan consumer sentiment round out the

week's diary.

The euro zone's schedule includes flash Q2 GDP, July

economic sentiment, consumer confidence, flash inflation and

June unemployment.

The Ifo Institute's survey on Monday showed German business

morale grew more than expected in July thanks to significantly

improved expectations.

In commodity markets, the drop in yields helped

non-interest-paying gold climb 1.1% to $4,098.76 an ounce

.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole and Sruthi Shankar; Editing by Stephen

Coates, Sam Holmes, Mrigank Dhaniwala, Amanda Cooper and

Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)