With the greenback under selling pressure, investors moved into dollar-denominated commodities such as gold.

Gold for December delivery rose as high as $1,045.00 an ounce in electronic trade, topping the previous record of $1,033.90 in March 2008. It recently gained $23.50, or 2.3%, to $1,041.30 an ounce.

Gold's new high is "very significant," says Brien Lundin, editor of the Gold Newsletter, published by Jefferson Financial. "Reaching $1,100 by the end of the year is now a conservative estimate."

The dollar index (DXY 76.31, -0.33, -0.43%), a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, fell to 76.249 from 76.668 in late trading Monday. See Currencies.

The report carried in the Independent newspaper was denied by top finance officials, giving the dollar a small, but temporary, lift earlier. See full story.

"There's no telling the veracity of these reports, but the general trend has been going in this direction anyway: a weaker dollar and rising gold," Lundin said.

According to Peter Spina, chief investment analyst at GoldSeek.com, trading gold and other currencies in exchange for oil would "establish gold as a recognized medium of exchange, returning it a step closer to its role as money on a world