PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday decided to keep his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in office after parliamentary elections in which the government's political camp lost its role as the strongest party to the left in a hung parliament.

"The President has asked Gabriel Attal to remain prime minister for the time being in order to ensure the country's stability," Macron's office said in a statement.

France faced a hung parliament and the prospect of taxing negotiations starting Monday to form a government, after a surprise left-wing surge blocked Marine Le Pen's quest to bring the far right to power

Attal had already flagged on Sunday he would offer his resignation, which follows French political tradition, but added he was prepared to stay in office longer as a caretaker but it was up to the president to decide.

France faced a hung parliament and the prospect of taxing negotiations starting Monday to form a government, after a surprise left-wing surge blocked Marine Le Pen's quest to bring the far right to power.

The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday's election, but with no single group securing a working majority the possibilities include the NFP forming a minority government or the building of a broad, unwieldy coalition.

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The result delivered a stinging blow to Macron and leaves the euro zone's second largest economy in limbo, heralding a period of political instability just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympic Games.

Macron ended up with a hugely fragmented parliament, in what is set to weaken France's role in the European Union and further afield, and make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda.

The left won 182 seats, Macron's centrist alliance 168 and Le Pen's National Rally (RN) and allies 143, interior ministry data cited by Le Monde newspaper showed.

Raphael Glucksmann, a prominent moderate who led the leftist ticket in last month's European elections, said on Sunday that a hung parliament required openness for dialogue.

But France Unbowed's firebrand leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of the most divisive figures in French politics, explicitly ruled out any deal with centrists on Sunday, and on Monday his ally Eric Bompard was sounding uncompromising.

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"The president must appoint as prime minister someone from the New Popular Front to implement the NFP's program, the whole program and nothing but the programme," he said on France 2 television.

Challenged on how that would be possible without an absolute majority, Bompard refused to engage with the question, insisting that as the NFP had come first, it should govern and shrugging off the idea of negotiating with anyone else.

However, there is little chance that any of the left-wing bloc's key proposals, which include raising the minimum wage, reversing Macron's pension reform and capping the prices of key goods, would pass a parliamentary vote without some kind of agreement with lawmakers from outside the bloc.

Centrists open to negotiation

Some prominent centrist figures, including Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister under Macron, said they were ready to work on a pact to ensure a stable government, but were not prepared to work with France Unbowed, a force seen by many French centrists as just as extremist as the RN.

Yael Braun-Pivet, a lawmaker from Macron's party who was the National Assembly leader before the election, said French political culture would have to evolve, becoming less antagonistic and more cooperative across party lines.

"The message I'm hearing from voters is 'no one has an absolute majority, so you have to work together to find solutions to our problems'," she said on France 2 television.

The euro slipped on Monday by as much as 0.4 percent as investors grappled with the uncertainty in Paris.

"There's really going to be a vacuum when it comes to France's legislative ability," said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe in London.

For Le Pen's RN, the result was a far cry from weeks during which opinion polls consistently projected it would win comfortably.

The left and centrist alliances cooperated after the first round of voting last week by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote.

In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella, Le Pen's protege, called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a "disgraceful alliance" that he said would paralyse France.

Le Pen, who will likely be the party's candidate for the 2027 presidential election, said however that Sunday's ballot, in which the RN made major gains, had sown the seeds for the future.

"Our victory has been merely delayed," she said.

Some prominent centrist figures, including Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister under Macron, said they were ready to work on a pact to ensure a stable government, but were not prepared to work with Melenchon's France Unbowed - a force seen by many French centrists as just as extremist as the RN.

Yael Braun-Pivet, a lawmaker from Macron's party who was the National Assembly leader before the election, said French political culture would have to evolve, becoming less antagonistic and more cooperative across party lines.

"The message I'm hearing from the voters is 'no one has an absolute majority, so you have to work together to find solutions to our problems'," she said on France 2 television.

The euro fell on Sunday after the vote projections were announced.

"There's really going to be a vacuum when it comes to France's legislative ability," said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe in London.

Unified anti-RN vote

For Le Pen's RN, the result was a far cry from weeks during which opinion polls consistently projected it would win comfortably.

The left and centrist alliances cooperated after the first round of voting last week by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote.

In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella, Le Pen's protege, called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a "disgraceful alliance" that he said would paralyze France.

Le Pen, who will likely be the party's candidate for the 2027 presidential election, said however that Sunday's ballot, in which the RN made major gains compared with previous elections, had sown the seeds for the future.

"Our victory has been merely delayed," she said.

As darkness fell on Sunday, the statue of Marianne in Place de la Republique was lit up by fireworks amid celebrations by left-wing supporters. Marianne is a national symbol of France, representing reason, liberty and the ideals of the republic.

Baptiste Fourastié, a 23-year-old designer in Place de la Republique, said: "We weren't expecting it, neither were the polls. We are happy that the French people succeeded once more in blocking the far right."

However he was worried that the right may grow in strength and win next time if the next government is not beyond reproach.

"It will be difficult with a hung parliament, but better than if it was the far right (ahead)," Fourastié said.