BEIJING, May 31 (Reuters) - Copper prices climbed on

Friday, while heading for a moderate monthly rise as profit

taking and physical demand weakness in top consumer China capped

gains.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange

rebounced 0.6% to $10,191 per metric ton by 0208 GMT, it has

lost 1.2% this week as profit taking accelerated.

A speculation frenzy pushed up copper to record highs on May

20, followed by profit taking and also worries over U.S.

interest rate prospect.

So far, the contract registered a monthly gain of 2%.

The most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures

Exchange fell 1.6% to 82,490 yuan ($11,396.16) a ton.

Although copper is expected to benefit from a growing supply

deficit of raw material and rising demand, the recent rally has

hit actual consumption.

Meanwhile, China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell

in May, an official factory survey showed on Friday.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.5

in May from 50.4 in April, below the 50-mark separating growth

from contraction and missing a median forecast of 50.4 in a

Reuters poll.

LME aluminium gained 0.3% to $2,711.50 a ton, nickel

added 0.9% to $20,240, zinc little moved at

$3,070, tin moved 0.7% higher to $33,330, and lead

rose 0.5% to $2,287.50.

SHFE aluminium fell 1.3% to 21,465 yuan a ton, tin

was down 1.4% at 274,840 yuan, nickel lost

1.8% to 150,920 yuan, zinc shed 1.2% to 24,800 yuan and

lead nudged 0.3% lower to 18,830 yuan.

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DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0130 China NBS Manufacturing PMI May

0600 UK Nationwide House Price MM, YY May

0645 France GDP QQ Final Q1

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

0645 France CPI Prelim MM, YY NSA May

0645 France Producer Prices YY April

0900 EU HICP Flash YY May

0900 EU HICP-X F, E, A&T Flash MM, YY May

1230 US Consumption, Adjusted MM April

1230 US Core PCE Price Index MM, YY April

1230 US PCE Price Index MM, YY April

($1 = 7.2384 Chinese yuan renminbi)