Emmanuel Macron refused his prime minister's resignation on Monday, as the president scrambled to maintain France's credibility after his snap election gamble failed to break political deadlock.

The left-leaning New Popular Front (NFP) won most seats in Sunday's second-round parliamentary vote, defying polls to beat both Macron's centrists and Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally.

But no group wields an outright majority, and no obvious candidate for prime minister has emerged.