CBOT corn ends higher on bargain-buying, paring steep weekly drop

CHICAGO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rose more than 1% on Friday, paring some of this week's steep declines as exporters and domestic users stepped in to buy cash grain at discounted prices, analysts said.

• CBOT March corn CH26 settled up 4-1/2 cents at $4.24-3/4 per bushel.

• Still, for the week, benchmark corn futures Cv1 fell 21 cents a bushel or 4.7%, the biggest weekly decline since July.

• Corn futures had tumbled on Monday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged U.S. production and inventories above analyst expectations.

• Export demand lent support in the wake of Monday's sell-off. The USDA confirmed private sales of 418,000 metric tons of U.S. corn under its daily reporting rules on Friday, following sales of 760,302 tons a day earlier.

• Brokers noted firm U.S. cash markets as well, with a few processors raising spot basis bids amid a lack of farmer grain sales.

• U.S. markets and most government offices will be closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday.