MUMBAI, Aug 7 (Reuters) - India's copper futures may open slightly lower on Friday on continued profit-taking as investors awaited U.S. jobs data to gauge the health of the U.S. economy, analysts said. The most-traded August contract MCCQ9 on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) ended 1.6 percent lower at 290.10 rupees per kg in the previous session. The contract had gained 11 percent in the previous 6 sessions till Wednesday. MCX copper contract may open at 287.0-288 rupees, said Paras Sejpal, an analyst with TransMarket Group Research. "There could be continued profit-taking in the early part of the session," said Aurobinda Prasad, deputy manager-research, Karvy Comtrade. "U.S. employment data would be important to watch out for in copper." "Good support is towards 284.5-285 (rupees) levels expect corrective decline towards this level," said Sejpal. A Reuters poll of economists forecast 320,000 jobs were slashed last month, fewer than the 467,000 workers laid off in June, but the unemployment rate was expected to climb to a 26-year high of 9.6 percent. [ID:nN05247775] The August zinc contract MZIQ9 closed 2.7 percent lower at 87.85 rupees per kg, while lead for August delivery MLDQ9 ended 3.6 percent lower at 88.90 rupees per kg in the last session. GOLD: India's gold futures may open flat on lack of leads, with investors awaiting jobs data for direction in the precious metals complex, analysts said. The benchmark October gold MAUV9 closed almost steady at 14,915 rupees per 10 grams in the previous session. The contract is likely to open at 14,920 rupees per 10 grams, said Kunal Shah, assistant vice-president with Nirmal Bang Commodities. "Recovery in rupee would support gold. Gold may trade in the range of 14,860-14,980 rupees," said Krishna Reddy, an analyst with Way 2 Wealth Securities in Mumbai. (Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Sunil Nair)

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