GRAINS-Broad buying lifts US grain futures from multi-week lows

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - U.S. grain and soybean futures recovered from multi-week lows on Monday as broad-based buying and an influx of money from commodity funds boosted prices at the start of the year, traders said.

Equities, metals and energy markets also advanced after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

"In general, it's a risk-on trade, and we were pretty oversold coming in," said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne.

Most-active corn futures ended 7 cents higher at $4.44-1/2 per bushel and set a one-week high on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract earlier fell to its lowest level since December 17.

After trading ended, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said large speculators slightly increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week ended on December 30.

CBOT soybean futures Sv1 closed up 16-1/4 cents at $10.62 per bushel, and soymeal futures SMv1 ended $3.90 higher at $299.90 per short ton. In the wheat market, futures Wv1 finished 6 cents higher at $5.12-1/2 per bushel.

On Friday, soybean, soymeal and wheat prices hit their lowest levels since late October.

Commodity funds were net buyers of an estimated 21,500 corn contracts, 11,500 soybean contracts, 3,000 soymeal contracts, and 3,000 wheat contracts, traders said. CBOT/FUNDS

"Soybeans recouped part of Friday's losses on bargain buying," said Cheang Kang Wei, vice president at StoneX in Singapore.

Global supplies remained ample. Argentina and Australia were wrapping up bumper wheat harvests, and Brazil was starting to bring in what is forecast to be a record soybean crop.

Last year, U.S. farmers produced a record-large corn harvest. Export demand has been strong for the crop.

In the week ending on January 1, 1.2 million metric tons of U.S. corn were inspected for export, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The agency on January 12 was slated to issue key crop data, including U.S. grain and soybean stocks as of December 1.

"We really front-loaded corn shipments," Wiegand said. "If that stocks number comes in light, that can give things a jolt."

Wheat traders continued to monitor Russia's war in Ukraine, a major grain exporter.

Moscow launched missile strikes on Ukraine's second-biggest city Kharkiv and attacked an enterprise owned by U.S. agricultural producer Bunge BG.N in the city of Dnipro, Ukrainian officials said.