(Repeats Friday's story without changes)
* Results season kicks into high gear over next weeks
* European earnings calendar year estimates: http://reut.rs/2553txN
* Analyst upgrades vs downgrades: http://reut.rs/2k94lmp
* Banks, tech showing strongest forecasts, Insurers, utilities weak
* Much of the outlook hinges on Trump agenda
By Atul Prakash and Vikram Subhedar
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The mood among analysts on the outlook for European earnings is the brightest in 6 years, although a combination of higher valuations and optimistic projections leaves the bar for disappointment in the imminent results season fairly low.
Lofty expectations at the start of the calendar year are not new. In every year since 2010, forecasts have called for double-digit earnings growth in Europe only for actual annual results to significantly underwhelm.
Meanwhile, a global rally in stock markets, stoked by hopes of better economic growth, the return of inflation in Western countries and seemingly unperturbed by a swathe of political risks in Europe and the United States, has lifted valuations back to or above long-term averages.
European shares are up nearly 11 percent since their early November lows following Donald Trump's win in the U.S. presidential election with the banks, commodity-related sectors and industrials leading the charge as investors switched out of defensive, dividend-paying sectors and into stocks closely geared to the economic cycle.
Earnings are forecast to grow roughly 14 percent in Europe this year and companies are seeing more analyst upgrades than downgrades for the first time since 2010, according to Thomson Reuters data.
While fundamental factors such as improving global growth forecasts, higher commodity prices and steeper bond yield curves have underpinned improving earnings, concerns are creeping in on whether the better economic backdrop is already baked into higher stock prices.
Valuations for European shares are back to roughly 15 times forward earnings, bang in line with long-term averages.
"Investors should be cautious about these headline earnings numbers for 2017," said Alex Dryden, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
"Analyst forecasts typically start the year at an overly optimistic level before falling sharply over the course of the year," said Dryden.
A strong run-up in share prices ahead of earnings makes it that much harder for relatively good results to spur further buying.
UBS results on Friday were a case in point. The Swiss bank reported better-than-expected results though shares fell more than 3 percent. They had risen more than 20 percent in the three months prior.