CBOT December corn settled up 2-1/4 cents at $3.48-1/4 per bushel.
Commodity funds hold a large net short position in CBOT corn, leaving the market vulnerable to bouts of short-covering.
Additional support noted from expectations that the US Department of Agriculture might tighten its US corn ending stocks forecast in monthly supply/demand reports next week.
Commodity brokerage INTL FCStone on Monday trimmed its forecast of the US 2016 corn yield to 175.2 bushels per acre, from 175.6 last month, and estimated US corn production at 15.163 billion bushels.
The USDA said private exporters sold 100,000 tonnes of US corn to unknown destinations for 2016/17 delivery.
The USDA said the US corn harvest was 24 percent complete by Sunday, behind an average of trade estimates for 25 percent and the five-year average of 27 percent.