The front Chicago Board of Trade corn futures contract settled on Friday at $3.50-3/4 per bushel, nearly unchanged from its end-2016 close of $3.52 as plentiful US and global supplies hung over the market, capping rallies. The front CBOT March corn contract fell 1-1/4 cents on Friday to end at $3.50-3/4, staying inside the previous day's - and previous year's - trading range.

US markets will be closed on Monday for the New Year's Day holiday. Trade in CBOT grains will resume Tuesday at 8:30 am CST (1430 GMT). The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of US corn in the latest week at 1,348,400 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), above a range of trade estimates for 600,000 to 1,150,000 tonnes.

Copyright Reuters, 2018