Copper futures were climbing on Thursday as the U.S. dollar lost value and exports grew in the globe's largest consumer of the reddish metal, according to Reuters. Chinese exports increased more than 14 percent in December as compared to the same month one year earlier. The data pushed past predictions issued by analysts surveyed by the news service, who had stated annual growth in the Asian would amount to 4 percent. "Today it's a risk-on day, therefore that's leading to some upside for all the metals," analyst Robin Bhar with Societe Generale told Reuters on Thursday. "But whether they can attack recent highs remains to be seen. This week is the first full week of trading in 2013 and volumes are not spectacular. There is still caution around, and I think some of the rallies may be not sustainable." At 10:50 a.m. on Thursday, copper futures increased 0.68 percent, a 0.025 cent rise to $3.6955 per pound. Bloomberg reports imports of the base metal by China last month fell 6.6 percent as compared to December 2011.

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