(Recasts, updates prices)

BEIJING, July 12 (Reuters) - Copper prices slipped on

Friday and were set for a weekly decline as weak demand from top

consumer China offset hopes of U.S. interest rate cuts.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was

down 0.3% to $9,759.50 per metric ton by 0454 GMT. It has

declined 1.9% so far this week.

The most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai

Futures Exchange fell 1.3% to 78,960 yuan ($10,870.19)

a ton.

China's trade data on Friday showed imports unexpectedly

shrank 2.3%, while exports rose 8.6%, beating expectations.

For unwrought copper and products imports, June data fell to

a 14-month low as subdued demand, ample stocks and high prices

curbed buying interest.

This week also saw copper inventories in LME

warehouses climb to 206,775 tons, their highest since October

2021.

But cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data on Thursday

bolstered hopes of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in

September.

The dollar index slid this week, lending some support

to prices as it makes it less expensive to buy the

greenback-priced commodity.

Investors are waiting for a key meeting next week by China's

Communist Party for more stimulus to boost its economy.

LME aluminium shed 0.3% at $2,469 a ton, nickel

dipped 0.1% at $16,790, zinc slipped 0.7% at

$2,938, tin dropped 2.5% to $33,810, and lead

moved 0.5% lower to $2,186.50.

SHFE aluminium lost 1.2% to 19,955 yuan a ton, lead

gained 0.4% at 19,545 yuan, nickel slid 0.8%

to 133,060 yuan. Xinc declined 1% to 24,170 yuan, and

tin was down 2.6% to 274,700 yuan.

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($1 = 7.2639 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Colleen Howe; Editing by Subhranshu

Sahu and Mrigank Dhaniwala)