By Manolo Serapio Jr. MANILA (Reuters) - Shanghai copper edged up for a fourth day running on Friday, setting course for a weekly gain of 5.6 percent, its biggest weekly rise in more than a month, supported by signs the global economy has bottomed out. Data released on Thursday showed China's annual gross domestic product growth quickened to a stronger-than-forecast 7.9 percent in the second quarter, making it the best-performing major economy and reinforcing hopes the world economy is pulling out of its deepest recession in 80 years. Shanghai's third month copper contract gained 0.2 percent to 41,640 yuan a tonne by 0301 GMT. The contract hit a nine-month peak of 42,290 yuan a tonne on Thursday, supported by the Chinese data. "We are getting into recovery position, all leading indicators are getting better and some of the European and U.S. data are also suggesting that things have already bottomed out," said Bonnie Liu at Macquarie. "It's only a matter of time before people see a real pickup of the global economy. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell $40 to $5,220 a tonne, but is on course for a gain of 7.8 percent in its strongest weekly showing since March. "At the moment, I think the movement in copper prices is really modest and still within the sort of ranges we've seen in recent days, so I wouldn't read too much into it," said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. There were more mixed news on the U.S. economy on Thursday with the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits last week falling to the lowest level since January, while a key regional manufacturing index slipped more than expected in July. Investors also remain concerned about the tightness in the copper market, with data showing a dominant position controlling between 50 percent and 80 percent of LME copper stocks. Traders said this factor was behind copper flipping into backwardation earlier this week -- for the first time since May -- with the premium for LME cash copper over the three-month contract at $4/$8 on Friday. The market is awaiting the release of data on copper stocks at Shanghai warehouses later on Friday with traders' forecasts mixed, ranging from flat to an increase of 3,000 tonnes. Copper inventories at warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 5,813 tonnes from a week earlier to 54,167 tonnes last week. | 
