MUMBAI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - India copper futures edged lower on Tuesday as a strong rupee and rising inventories weighed on prices, but upbeat U.S. and Chinese manufacturing data kept the downside limited, analysts said. The most-traded February copper MCCG0 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was trading 0.76 percent lower at 344.70 rupees per kg at 4:24 p.m., after hitting a contract high of 349.4 rupees in the previous session. Analyst Pranav Mer of India Infoline said 344 was a good support for copper. "If it breaches 344, then the next level to watch out for would be 340/341 or else prices would recover." The Indian rupee rose to fresh one-month highs buoyed by gains in the domestic sharemarket and tracking losses in the dollar versus major currencies. [INR/] A strong rupee makes the dollar-quoted red metal cheaper locally. Rising inventories also weighed on prices. Copper stocks in the warehouse monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose 2,950 tonnes to 505,350 tonnes on Tuesday. <0#LME-STOCKS> Copper may trade in the range of 342-349 rupees, said Navneet Damani, an analyst with AnandRathi Commodities. China's factories cranked up production in December on the back of bulging order books, data showed on Monday, while manufacturing in the United States grew for a fifth consecutive month. [ID:nN04238572] [ID:nSGE6030AO] In other base metals, January zinc MZIF0 was 1.39 percent lower at 116.90 rupees per kg, while lead for January delivery MLDF0 was 1.77 percent lower at 113.65 rupees per kg at 4:26 p.m. January nickel MNKF0 was 1.23 percent lower at 866.40 rupees. "Nickel may continue to trade weak, one can sell at 862, with a target of 851 and maintaining a stop loss of 870 rupees," said AnandRathi's Damani. (Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Harish Nambiar)

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