* Copper rises from Aug 8 lows hit on Friday * Russia-U.S. deal on Syria lifts risk appetite * Dollar falls after Summers withdraws from Fed chair race (Updates prices, adds details, changes dateline from SINGAPORE) By Susan Thomas LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Copper inched higher on Monday from a five-week low on Friday, as investors' appetite for risk improved on expectations of a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria and the dollar fell. Signs of progress in Syria following a Russian-brokered deal aimed at averting U.S. military action helped lift the prices of assets like copper and equities perceived as risky. A weaker dollar supports copper as it typically helps boost demand for dollar-denominated assets by making them cheaper for holders of other currencies. The dollar fell to a four-week low against a basket of other major currencies after Lawrence Summers withdrew his candidacy for Federal Reserve chairman. Summers is perceived by markets as hawkish, and his decision could leave Janet Yellen, a policy dove, as front runner for the job. Investors wagered that U.S. monetary policy would likely stay easier for longer under Yellen. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4 percent to $7,066 a tonne by 1053 GMT from $7,041 at the close on Friday. It dropped to a low of $7,024 a tonne on Friday, its weakest since Aug. 8. "Firstly, the Syrian crisis has receded further into the background, so that worry has moved away and has helped support copper," BNP Paribas analyst Stephen Briggs said. "Secondly, there is the perception that the other possible candidates will be more likely to continue with quantitative easing, and through that the dollar has weakened which is also a factor in supporting the base metals prices." Copper is up more than 7 percent from three-year lows hit in late June and other industrial metal prices too have been underpinned by improving sentiment on global growth. Recent data has boosted optimism about demand in China, which accounts for 40 percent of global copper consumption. But copper has failed to gain traction above $7,420 a tonne, the top-end of a recent band hit in mid-August. A break out of this band is unlikely ahead of a Fed policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday after which it is expected to announce a trimming of its bond buying programme, analysts said. "With (the) FOMC meeting the main focus of the wider global markets, the (base metals) complex is likely to continue drifting sideways until some clarity emerges of the timing and scale of any tapering," Standard Bank said in a research note. Benchmark lead was down 0.6 percent at $2,059 per tonne after falling 2.3 percent on Friday to a six-week low, weighed down by inventories of the metal rising by nearly 30 percent. It closed at $2,070 on Friday. Inventories <0#MPBSTX-LOC> of the metal shot up by 49,475 tonnes at LME-registered warehouses in the Dutch port of Vlissingen in one day last week. It was the biggest daily rise in lead stocks since 1970, according to LME data on Friday.

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