July 28 (Reuters) - Prices of copper, which is widely viewed as a gauge of global economic health, hovered on Wednesday near their multi-week highs scaled in the previous session, as investors bet on a strong outlook for the metal in the second half of this year.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.2% at $9,775 a tonne, as of 0624 GMT, and the most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was almost flat at 72,020 yuan ($11,070.29) a tonne.

Yangshan copper premium was last traded at $45 a tonne, hovering near its highest level since end-April, indicating higher demand for importing the metal into top consumer China.

Metal prices were supported by falling inventories in ShFE , which hit their lowest since Feb. 10 at 96,087 tonnes last week, exchange data showed.

"Falling exchange inventories and rising premium are suggesting strong physical demand. Copper will continue to benefit from structural theme of electric vehicles adoption and green energy," ANZ analyst Soni Kumari said.

"A more loose monetary policy in the second half of this year against earlier expectations of a tighter monetary policy in H2 would be supportive for copper and other metals. Therefore, we see copper price rally to sustain towards end of this year," she added.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The difference between the LME cash aluminium and the three-month contract flipped to a premium of $6.50 a tonne, having stayed in a discount since June 18, indicating tightening nearby supplies as stockpiles fell in both LME and ShFE warehouses.

* LME aluminium fell 0.3% to $2,481.50 a tonne, nickel rose 0.9% to $19,535 a tonne, while zinc declined 0.8% to $2,960 a tonne.

* ShFE nickel rose as much as 1.3% to 148,550 yuan a tonne, its highest since Feb. 22, while aluminium fell 1.3% to 19,375 yuan a tonne, and lead shed 1.5% to 15,870 yuan a tonne.

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($1 = 6.5057 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)