* China's July exports undershoot forecasts by big margin * China's July copper imports rose 5.9 pct on mth * Investors hopeful of stimulus by Beijing * ECB should be ready to intervene in markets "very soon" - Noyer * Coming up: U.S. Federal budget for July; 1800 GMT (Updates prices; adds quotes, details) By Carrie Ho SHANGHAI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Copper fell on Friday on soft China trade data, despite a rise in copper imports in July, as surprisingly weak import and export numbers marked a second day of gloomy data from the world's top metals consumer. The disappointment outweighed hopes by many that recent weak data will push major economies like China towards more aggressive stimulus policies. China's export and import growth came in well below expectations in July, weighed down by weakness in major trading partners and lower commodity prices. The data came a day after figures showing factory output growth slowed unexpectedly in July to the weakest in more than three years. Copper imports rose 5.9 percent to 366,548 tonnes in July from the previous month, but analysts were not impressed, attributing this mainly to term contracts and financing deals rather than a pick-up in consumer demand. "We understand that consumer demand is still sluggish," said CIFCO futures analyst Zhou Jie, pointing to a fall in futures prices as evidence of market nonchalance to the better-than-expected numbers. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.7 percent to $7,484 per tonne by 0452 GMT, extending losses to a third session, but was on track to post a 0.5 percent gain on the week. The most active November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.9 percent to 54,640 yuan ($8,600) per tonnesnapping four sessions of gains, but was on track to log a 1.3 percent rise for the week. Losses were likely be capped by hopes of stimulus measures by Beijing to keep growth on track, with Thursday's data also showing consumer inflation fell to a 30-month low, giving room for policy easing. "Market opinion is divergent on whether there will be fresh stimulus by Beijing soon, which accounts for recent small price movements in copper futures and the continued reduction of net open interest in Shanghai copper," Zhou added. Still, many investors are hoping such measures by major economies will help spur global growth and metals demand, and are also keeping an eye on the euro zone, after comments by Christian Noyer, a governing council member of the European Central Bank, signalled that the bank may soon intervene in bond markets to help debt-laden Spain and Italy. Any intervention would be welcome as fortunes of the euro zone's most vulnerable economies have darkened markedly since June, according to a Reuters poll of economists that showed Spain will apply for an EU bailout within months. The Bank of Japan also signalled on Thursday its readiness to expand stimulus again if risks to the outlook for the world's third-largest economy grow. BASE METALS: A BEVY OF UGLIES "Base metals as a whole look bad today, even copper, which would have lost more if not for bargain hunters, as seen in the strong buying interest between $7,520 and $7,540 earlier today," said a Shanghai-based trader with an international firm. "Shanghai zinc was the biggest victim of the disappointing China trade data, dragging down LME zinc, as there was no support from fundamentals," he added. Shanghai zinc was the biggest loser by the midday close, falling 1.3 pct to 14,610 yuan, helping to push LME zinc down to $1,847. Zinc prices have been pressured by high Chinese inventories and low global demand from an ailing galvanised steel industry. Although aluminium suffers from equally weak fundamentals, Shanghai prices were cushioned in the session from thin trading interest. "Aluminium futures trading is not very interesting with prices so range-bound. You either earn around 200 yuan per tonne or lose by that amount," the trader said. Base metals prices at 0452 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 7484.00 -50.00 -0.66 -1.53 SHFE CU FUT NOV2 54640 -520 -0.94 -1.78 LME Alum 1896.50 -3.50 -0.18 -6.11 SHFE AL FUT NOV2 15400 -70 -0.45 -2.78 HG COPPER SEP2 339.55 -2.95 -0.86 -1.18 LME Zinc 1847.00 -13.00 -0.70 0.11 SHFE ZN FUT NOV2 14610 -185 -1.25 -1.25 LME Nickel 15425.00 -75.00 -0.48 -17.56 LME Lead 1907.25 -13.75 -0.72 -6.28 SHFE PB FUT 14980 -100 -0.66 -2.03 LME Tin 18000.00 100.00 +0.56 -6.25 LME/Shanghai arb 1071 Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month ($1 = 6.3590 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Carrie Ho; Editing by Chris Lewis and Richard Pullin)

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