* ECB interest rate cut expected; investors await outcome * U.S. jobless data later; nonfarm payroll data due on Friday * Euro Zone ECB rate decision due at 1145 (Updates prices; adds quotes, details) By Carrie Ho SHANGHAI, July 5 (Reuters) - Copper traded largely steady on Thursday as investors waited for the result of a European Central Bank meeting, at which interest rates are expected to be cut to a record low, a move which may stimulate economic growth and help boost metals demand. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange shed 0.1 percent to $7,714.50 per tonne by 0421 GMT, after falling 1.2 percent i n the prior session. The most-active October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.1 percent to 55,910 yuan ($8,800) per tonne, snapping five sessions of gains. "Copper prices have moved very little - around $100 or 500 yuan - over the past few sessions. Investors will stay cautious until they get more trading cues from today's ECB rate meeting and tomorrow's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data," said a Qingdao-based copper buyer. The ECB is expected to cut interest rates later on Thursday after surveys showing all of Europe's biggest economies are in recession or heading there, and little sign things will improve soon. A rate cut by the ECB would back up an EU summit deal to strengthen the region's financial system and help avert a break up of the euro zone. The deal, which appears tenuous, had helped boost metal prices earlier this week to multi-week highs. Investors are also eyeing Friday's key monthly U.S. jobs report for clues over whether the Federal Reserve will take additional easing steps. Non-farm payrolls were expected to see an addition of 90,000 workers in June, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 8.2 percent. Metals prices are seeing support from hopes that China, the world's largest consumer of industrial metals, would embark on fresh stimulus measures to boost flagging economy growth. A slew of weak data from China, including a private sector survey which showed services firms grew at their slowest rate in 10 months in June, easing back from May's 19-month peak, was seen by investors as a precursor to stimulus measures. Shanghai aluminium was one of the session's best performers, with the most active Shanghai contact recovering 5.2 percent by its midday close from a three-year low it posted last week as Chinese traders reported renewed interest in the metal, believing it was oversold in recent price dips. "Despite problems of overcapacity in China, aluminium looks one of the most attractive to traders now among the industrial metals at these low price levels," said a metals buyer. "It has a lot of uses, which makes it less vulnerable than metals like zinc in times of a downturn in any one sector. Its energy-intensive nature also means it will be bolstered by crude oil price rises should potential supply problems flare up." In industry news, Australian junior miner CuDECO Ltd signed a joint memorandum of understanding with Swiss mining conglomerate Xstrata Copper and Chinese state-owned trader Minmetals Group for the development of multi-user rail load-out facility near Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia, where it is developing a copper mine. Base metals prices at 0421 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move YTD pct chg LME Cu 7714.50 -10.50 -0.14 1.51 SHFE CU FUT OCT2 55910 -60 -0.11 0.50 LME Alum 1953.00 -3.00 -0.15 -3.32 SHFE AL FUT OCT2 15700 55 +0.35 -0.88 HG COPPER SEP2 350.65 -3.35 -0.95 2.05 LME Zinc 1884.00 -14.00 -0.74 2.11 SHFE ZN FUT OCT2 14825 -05 -0.03 0.20 LME Nickel 16900.00 -30.00 -0.18 -9.67 LME Lead 1898.25 -7.75 -0.41 -6.72 SHFE PB FUT 14920 -30 -0.20 -2.42 LME Tin 19015.00 -135.00 -0.70 -0.96 LME/Shanghai arb 1431 Shanghai and COMEX contracts show most active months ^ LME 3-m copper in yuan, including 17 pct VAT, minus SHFE third month ($1 = 6.3477 Chinese yuan)

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