Gold rose to a record high for the third consecutive session on Wednesday as deepening concern over Europe's sovereign debt crisis spurred demand for the metal as a safe haven investment.

Euro-denominated gold struck a lifetime high above 1,087.84 euros an ounce. Spot gold was seen trading at $1527.00 and gold futures for June delivery rose to at $1,527.5 an ounce.

However, the gains were limited by strengthening U.S. dollar as renewed concerns over the euro zone debt crisis sent the greenback higher, which made commodities more expensive. The euro declined 0.11 percent to 1.4085 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, Moody's warned Portugal and Ireland that Greek debts default would push their credit ratings into junk territory.

Gold advanced to a record $1,577.57 an ounce on May 2 on concerns about faster inflation, Europe’s debt crisis and Libya crisis.

Some European leaders have supported “reprofiling” of Greece’s debt on which its payback period could be lengthened and interest costs may be reduced.

Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's efforts to impose more austerity measures on his already-beleaguered nation struck a roadblock when a key government figure said they would not back any further spending cuts or tax hikes.

With a budget deficit of about 10 percent of GDP, Greece has already commenced a sale of about 50-billion euros in state-owned assets in order to try to reduce that figure down to 7.5 percent this year.

Officials at the EU, International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as European government ministers are increasingly worried that Greece will not only fail to meet its consolidation targets but will default on its debts -- potentially creating a problem for the euro zone.

IMF Gdp Portugal Libya