TOKYO, July 8 Reuters The euro slipped on Monday after projections from France39;s election pointed to a hung parliament amid an unexpectedly strong showing for a leftwing alliance, spawning fresh uncertainty over the country39;s fiscal outlook.

The dollar remained on the back foot following surprisingly soft U.S. payrolls data on Friday, which boosted bets for the Federal Reserve to soon start cutting interest rates.

Sterling rose to a 312week top versus its U.S. peer as the British currency continued to firm following the Labour Party39;s landslide election victory last week, which ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

The Australian dollar benefited from greenback weakness to push to a sixmonth peak.

The yen headed for a third day of gains after rebounding from last week39;s nearly 38year trough to the dollar.

The euro was 0.1 lower at 1.08235, and earlier slid as much as 0.4, as investors weighed the consequences of a hung French parliament.

That was among several surprises in projected results, including the likely firstplace finish for the leftist New Popular Front NFP alliance, and lastplace showing for Marine Le Pen39;s nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally RN, which had been the frontrunner going into Sunday39;s vote.

Polling agencies forecast the left would get 184 to 198 seats well short of the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority. President Emmanuel Macron39;s centrist alliance was expected to get 160 to 169 seats, and the RN and its allies 135…