* CBOT March corn ended the day up 1-1/4 cents at $3.74-1/2 per bushel.
* The small bounce came one day after corn futures reached the lowest price since Nov. 29 amid fund profit-taking and reports of favorable weather for Brazil's first crop corn harvest.
* But the ongoing uncertainty over when China could return to the US market - and the dearth of export sales news from the US Department of Agriculture this week - kept a cap on the price bounce on Thursday.
* Daily export sales reporting by USDA has halted during the partial shutdown of the federal government.
* USDA's weekly export sales report, which had been scheduled for release on Friday, also has been postponed indefinitely due to the shutdown.
* Some traders say they are keeping a close eye on possible concerns of dryness in central Brazil, as well as forecasts of heavy rains in eastern Argentina that could result in corn and soybean replanting delays.
* China and the United States have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, as the world's two biggest economies advanced efforts to resolve a months-long trade war.
* "We continue to see fund positioning, which is dominating today's trade, and will again tomorrow and Monday," said Karl Setzer, operations manager for Citizens LLC, a grain elevator company.