* Copper on track for second straight monthly drop
* U.S. regional manufacturing data adds to econ woes
* China bonded warehouse stocks on the rise in April (Recasts, adds New York dateline/byline updates with New York copper price, adds quotes and details)
By Chris Kelly and Carrie Ho
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE, April 29 (Reuters) - Copper sank to a two-week low Friday morning, hit by weak regional manufacturing data in the United States that offered further evidence of slowing economic conditions in the world's largest economy.
Business activity in the U.S. Midwest grew less than expected this month as growth in employment and new orders slowed.
Separate data showed U.S. consumer spending edged up 0.2 percent in March as households stretched to cover the higher cost of food and gasoline and inflation posted its biggest year-on-year rise in 10 months.
The report came on the heels of disappointing U.S. growth figures and weekly jobless claims benefits on Thursday which cast a long shadow over growth expectations heading into the second quarter.
"The Chicago PMI was another one in a string of numbers that have been disappointing," said Sterling Smith, an analyst for Country Hedging Inc in St. Paul, Minnesota.
"It's showing that growth is slowing greatly, if not coming to a complete stop."
In New York, the most-active July COMEX copper contract fell to a session low of $4.1940 per lb, its lowest level since April 18, before recovering a bit to trade at $4.2015 by 10:25 a.m. EDT (1425 GMT), down 6.00 cents from Thursday's close.
Copper's early-morning losses placed it on track for a second-straight monthly loss, under pressure from mounting concerns about further interest rate tightening in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Euro zone inflation edged up to 2.8 percent in April, well above the 2 percent target ceiling of the European Central Bank, which raised rates for the first time in two years earlier this month.
In Asia, the most active Shanghai copper contract, July, dropped 1.2 percent to 69,200 yuan.
"If there are no negative macroeconomic policies announced over the weekend, I think Shanghai copper should be due for a rebound next Tuesday. But for now, the market is still concerned about the tight credit conditions in China and the weak U.S. economy," said Shanghai CIFCO Futures analyst Zhou Jie.
Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell for the sixth week to their lowest level since mid-February.
Despite the steady decline of stocks in these surveyed warehouses, Standard Chartered bank on Friday warned that China's copper inventories in bonded warehouses were still on the rise in April.
Stocks in Shanghai's bonded warehouses were hovering at around 650,000 tonnes, equivalent to roughly four weeks of China's domestic use and higher than the 200,000-tonne average over the past three years.
"What is worrying for bulls is that the majority of these copper stocks are tied to finance deals, meaning either that they were bought for the purpose of collecting bank loans, or they were unable to find immediate buyers," the bank said in a report led by analyst Judy Zhu.
"Either would indicate that there is no real demand backing these stocks; hence, we believe a surplus of the metal in China is imminent."
The London Metal Exchange (LME) copper three-month delivery contract closed flat on Thursday, its last trading day of the month, at $9,320 per tonne.
The LME is closed on Friday for Britain's royal wedding, and will remain closed on Monday for a public holiday. Shanghai will also be shut. Metal Prices at 1424 GMT Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2010 Ytd Pct
move COMEX Cu 420.50 -5.65 -1.33 444.70 -5.44 LME Alum 2760.00 13.00 +0.47 2470.00 11.74 LME Cu 9360.00 39.00 +0.42 9600.00 -2.50 LME Lead 2491.00 -7.00 -0.28 2550.00 -2.31 LME Nickel 26825.00 195.00 +0.73 24750.00 8.38 LME Tin 32000.00 -700.00 -2.14 26900.00 18.96 LME Zinc 2250.00 10.00 +0.45 2454.00 -8.31 SHFE Alu 16850.00 5.00 +0.03 16840.00 0.06 SHFE Cu* 69200.00 -850.00 -1.21 71850.00 -3.69 SHFE Zin 17320.00 -160.00 -0.92 19475.00 -11.07 ** Benchmark month for COMEX copper * 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07 (Reporting by Chris Kelly; editing by Jim Marshall)