* Wheat pushes higher on China sale
* Wheat reaches four-month high
* Corn falls 1%, soybeans drops on promising Brazil weather
CHICAGO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat pared gains on Wednesday after touching a four-month high following a third straight day of private sales of U.S. wheat to China, the largest wave of Chinese purchases in almost a decade.
Soybeans and corn turned lower as the markets grappled with a forecast of much-needed rain in South America curbing anxiety about drought damage to yields.
The most-active CBOT March wheat contract finished up 2-1/4 cents at $6.33-1/2 per bushel, paring gains after it reached $6.49-1/2, the highest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract since Aug. 9.
Wheat futures surged after the United States Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 372,000 metric tons of U.S. soft red winter (SRW) wheat to China, the third sale announced in recent days.
The USDA has confirmed bookings of more than 1 million metric tons of wheat to China since Monday, the biggest one-week sales total to the Asian country since July 2014 and close to the largest weekly amount ever.
"They definitely have a buying program going and I don't think they are done," said Jeff Thompson, an analyst with Marex Capital.
The USDA also confirmed fresh sales of 136,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China.
Despite the demand, benchmark CBOT soybeans settled down 10 cents at $12.95-1/2 per bushel after falling to 12.93-3/4, the contract's lowest price since Oct. 13. Corn ended down 6-1/4 cents at $4.84-1/4 a bushel.
Corn and soybean were pressured by weather forecasts for Brazil and parts of South America, where rain was predicted over the next two weeks, checking worries regarding the impact of drought on crop yields.
Traders await updated crop estimates on Thursday from Brazilian government agency Conab as well as monthly supply/demand reports due Friday from the USDA. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect the USDA to lower its estimates of Brazil's 2023/24 soybean and corn crops. (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra; Editing by David Evans and Lisa Shumaker)
