BEIJING, July 31 (Reuters) - London copper prices were on course for a fourth consecutive monthly gain, rising in early Asian trade on Friday as the dollar slipped to two-year lows and July factory activity in top consumer China beat expectations.

A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper for holders of other currencies and can support prices.

FUNDAMENTALS

* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 1% at $6,494 a tonne by 0146 GMT, after closing down 0.7% in the previous session. The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.1% to 51,890 yuan ($7,428.88) a tonne.

* COPPER: LME copper is on course to add around 1.3% this week and clock a jump of around 8% in July, having risen every month since April amid a China-led recovery in demand following the coronavirus outbreak and concerns over disruption to supply.

* CHINA: Factory activity expanded in July for a fifth month in a row and at a faster pace, beating analysts' expectations despite disruptions from floods and a resurgence in coronavirus cases around the world.

* USD: The dollar slipped to two-year lows on Friday and is on track to post its biggest monthly decline in 10 years, as investors worried that a recovery in the U.S. economy could be stymied by a second wave of coronavirus.

* OTHER METALS: Tin was flat but all other LME base metals were higher, with nickel adding 1% and heading for a monthly gain of 8.2%, the most since August 2019. Aluminium rose 0.4% and was heading for a 6.7% jump in July, which would be its biggest monthly rise since April 2018.

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($1 = 6.9849 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)