GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro, shares up as Greek deal seen near

* Euro hovers around 8-week high

* Greek debt talks to resume in Athens

* U.S. stocks set to gain on Greek deal hopes

* Market shrugs off drop in German exports

By Richard Hubbard

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The euro hit an eight-week high on Wednesday and shares rose as expectations a second bailout deal for Greece was close turned the focus back onto the growth outlook and central bank moves that should support riskier assets.

U.S. stock index futures also pointed to a higher open for equities on Wall Street, underpinned by a solid U.S. earnings season.

"The anticipation is that they are going to work out the Greek problem one way or the other here," Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services said.

"The issue is, are you going to have a Lehman-type financial crisis, and the market's take on that so far is probably not."

Greek leaders are due to meet later to agree a deal on painful austerity steps needed to secure a 130 billion euro ($172 billion) rescue from the IMF and European Union and avoid a potentially chaotic debt default.

The euro rose to $1.3275, near its highest level since Dec. 12, and also briefly reached 102.45 yen, its highest since Dec. 22 against the Japanese currency.

"If we see a deal being signed it's going to be euro-positive, but that's already priced in," Morgan Stanley strategist Ian Stannard said.

Euro zone officials say the full bailout package must be agreed with Greece and approved by the euro zone, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund before Feb. 15.

BEYOND GREECE

Investors appear keen to move on from Greece and focus on evidence the outlook for global economic growth is improving and on signs from the world's major central banks they will retain easier monetary policy stances, which should support riskier assets.

The European Central Bank's provision of nearly half a trillion euros in low-rate long-term funds to banks in December was helping to prop up risk appetite with a second tender, expected to be similar in size, due at the end of the month.

The ECB and the Bank of England both hold policy meetings on Thursday, with the UK central bank expected to add an extra 50 billion pounds ($79.4 billion) of stimulus via bond purchases.

The MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), which tracks shares in 45 countries, is close to posting gains of 10 percent for the year to date and was up 0.44 percent at 327.57.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose to fresh six month highs, up 0.3 percent at 1,076.34, for a gain of about 7.5 percent so far this year.

The optimism in financial markets was not dented when Germany reported the steepest drop in exports for nearly three years in December and the Bank of France said its economy would not grow at all in the first quarter of 2012.

The German data suggested Europe's dominant economy may have contracted more than thought in the fourth quarter of last year, but recent sentiment surveys pointed to only a brief dip.

"At the beginning of the year, the outlook for the German economy has improved, with the global economy picking up pace again and the uncertainty over the debt crisis easing," Commerzbank economist Ulrike Rondorf said.

Debt markets also reflected the improved risk appetite, with safe-haven German Bunds coming under pressure although this didn't affect Germany's ability to sell 3.3 billion euros of fresh five-year government bonds.

The sale drew good demand despite the optimism over a Greek deal, drawing bids for 1.8 times the amount on offer.

The impact of the ECB's efforts so far has been reflected in the yield on two-year Italian government bonds, which is now close to an eight-month low and has more than halved since late November.

"Even at the longer end, the yield on 10-year debt is now lower than on July 11, the day Italy was dragged into the euro zone crisis," noted Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy.

Oil markets are still worried that the European debt crisis could hit global growth and crimp demand, but a sharp and unexpected drop in U.S. crude inventories kept prices firmer.

Front-month Brent crude futures rose to six month highs of $116.69 a barrel, marking its seventh straight day of gains, and U.S. March crude gained over a dollar to $99.49 a barrel.

The spot gold price briefly rose above $1,750 an ounce but edged back to around $1,746 as a Greek debt deal could take the shine of an asset traditionally seen as safe haven.