(Updates with EMEA morning hours)

By Ashitha Shivaprasad

April 30 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell over 2% on

Wednesday, heading towards their worst month since November amid

weak data from top metals consumer China and lingering trade

uncertainty.

Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)

fell 2.2% to $9,231 a metric ton by 1045 GMT, its lowest level

since April 17. Prices fell 5% in April.

The Comex copper contract was down 4.3% to $4.63 per

lb, lowest since April 17.

Data on Wednesday showed that China's factory activity

contracted at the fastest pace in 16 months in April, keeping

alive calls for further stimulus.

"Copper is currently being held back by macroeconomic

uncertainty," said SP Angel analyst John Meyer.

"While Trump tariffs threaten to create a mini-recession in

the West, we feel that new stimulus in China and much of Asia

will continue to keep manufacturers going and drive growth."

Weighing on financial markets was a lack of progress in

de-escalating the U.S.-China trade conflict.

Despite claims from U.S. officials that talks are ongoing,

China has denied any active discussions. U.S. Treasury Secretary

Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that over time, it will be evident

to Beijing that Chinese tariffs are not sustainable for the

world's second-largest economy.

Data due to be released on Wednesday is likely to show that

the U.S. economy likely stalled or even contracted in the first

quarter.

The dollar index edged up, making dollar-priced

metals costlier for buyers using other currencies.

Keeping a floor under copper prices were another huge drop

in inventories in warehouses monitored by the

Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), which dropped 23.5% from last

Friday to 89,307 tons, their lowest since January 17. Last week,

they slid 32%.

The reduction in stocks has been driven by diverted copper

to the U.S. amid tariff threats on U.S. imports, as well as

tight scrap supplies.

"The shortage of scrap into China is a major issue with a

huge copper concentrate deficit causing Chinese smelters to

reduce capacity," said Meyer.

Aluminium fell 1% to $2,442 a ton, zinc lost

0.5% to $2,635.5, lead eased 0.7% to $1,963.5, tin

rose 0.4% to $32,015 and nickel rose 0.3% at

$15,595. All the metals were headed for monthly declines.