June 28 (Reuters) -Copper prices in London firmed on Friday, but were on track for their biggest monthly decline since May 2023 amid patchy economic growth in top consumer China and higher inventories.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 0.5% at $9,558.50 per metric ton, as of 0216 GMT. The contract was down 4.8% in June, and set for a sixth straight weekly loss, if current trend holds.

After advancing to a record high of $11,104.50 on May 20, copper prices have fallen 14%, partly on sluggish economic data from China and uncertainty over U.S. interest rates..

"Markets have shifted their view to the reality of the fundamentals, and the reality is that demand is weak, especially in China. Meanwhile, if we look to ex-China, the health of manufacturing remains clouded, U.S. is performing better, but Europe remains in manufacturing recession," said StoneX analyst Natalie Scott-Gray.

"I think we will see copper average around $9,500 per ton for the year, but prices will likely go above $10,500 by year-end, when I suspect we have the first U.S. rate cut."

Copper inventories CU-STX-SGH in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange were at 322,910 tons last week, compared with about 30,000 tons in January, reflecting the abundant supply in China.

The most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 rose 0.2% at 78,060 yuan ($10,741.56), but was set to post its worst month since July 2022.

In the broader market, the dollar was headed for a monthly gain, making greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies. USD/

LME aluminium CMAL3 gained 0.5% to $2,504.50 a ton, nickel CMNI3 edged up 0.7% to $17,220.00, zinc CMZN3 rose 0.6% at $2,947.50, lead CMPB3 added 0.5% to $2,189.50, and tin CMSN3 rose 0.6% at $32,440.

SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 steadied at 20,250 yuan a ton, nickel SNIcv1 was flat at 134,920 yuan, lead SPBcv1 was up 0.6% at 19,370 yuan, while zinc SZNcv1 rose 0.6% to 24,370 yuan and tin SSNcv1 was up 1.1% at 269,560 yuan.

For the top stories in metals and other news, click

TOP/MTL or MET/L

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0600 UK GDP QQ, YY Q1

0645 France CPI (EU Norm) Prelim YY, MM June

0645 France CPI Prelim MM NSA June

0645 France Producer Prices YY May

0755 Germany Unemployment Chg, Rate SA June

1230 US Consumption, Adjusted MM May

1230 US Core PCE Price Index MM, YY May

($1 = 7.2671 Chinese yuan)

Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

 For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C 
 Foreign exchange rates FX=SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX