(Reuters) - Gold surged to a record on Monday and other commodities from oil to grains sagged as investors sought shelter in safer assets after the United States' loss of its prized AAA credit rating dealt a major blow to confidence. Oil slid more than $3, wheat and corn fell around 1 percent, copper retreated and tin slumped as much as 8 percent after Standard & Poor's downgrade of the rating compounded worries over a widening debt crisis, dimming the outlook for commodity demand. Asian shares tumbled and the dollar touched a record low versus the Swiss franc as the fallout from the unprecedented downgrade drowned out pledges of assistance from Europe's central bank and words of encouragement from the Group of Seven nations. Benefiting from the gloom, gold climbed to an all-time high above $1,715 an ounce, its 11th record in 19 sessions, as investors snapped up the precious metal amid turmoil in financial markets. Gold has gained more than 20 percent so far this year. "What people are realizing is that dollar and euro currencies have real problems and I think that's manifesting in the gold price," said Dominic Schnider, executive director for wealth management research at UBS. "I would say the way things evolve right now I really could even imagine $2,000 being in the cards." Schnider said there was a risk gold could hit that level even before the end of the year if the global economy "does not accelerate, things go really nasty and central banks start to have large purchasing programs of government-related debt". With the twin debt crises raging and global equities plunging, G7 leaders said they were ready to take action to ensure stability and liquidity in financial markets. That followed a surprise statement from the European Central Bank that it would "actively implement" its controversial bond-buying program to fight the euro zone's debt crisis. U.S. gold futures also touched a record of $1,718.20 an ounce, while both spot and U.S. silver futures jumped more than 5 percent. CHINA FACTOR Standard & Poor's cut the long-term U.S. credit rating to AA-plus on Friday, a move that over time could ripple through markets by pushing up borrowing costs and making a lasting recovery harder to secure. "In our view, the biggest immediate risk to commodity prices is not the actual downgrade but a further rise in global economic uncertainty and policy risk," Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet said in a note to clients. U.S. crude, down more than 8 percent so far this year, fell as much as $3.70 to $83.18 a barrel, marking its sixth loss in seven sessions. It was down $2.76 at $84.12 by 3:03 a.m. EDT. Brent oil, up nearly 13 percent on the year, slipped $2.22 to $107.15, off a low of $105.79. U.S. soybeans slid to a one-month low, while corn and wheat dropped. London copper was down 0.1 percent at $9,031 a tonne, after falling as low as $8,950 earlier, its weakest since June 27. Tin slumped as much as 8 percent to $22,400 a tonne, its weakest since last September. Copper was among the few commodities that has displayed resilience amid the sell-off, supported by tight global supplies and investor bets on China's growth. Despite China's tightening moves, the world's second largest economy grew a robust 9.5 percent in the second quarter. China is the world's top copper consumer, No. 2 oil user and major buyer of grains. "China seems to be ticking over fine so commodity demand should be fine," said Graeme Train, commodity analyst at Macquarie in Shanghai. "China has destocked over the last 12 months after a big round of buying at lower commodity prices. It's potentially set up to do the same kind of buying where an opportunity presents itself." The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index .CRB, the 19-commodity benchmark, fell nearly 4.5 percent last week, its steepest drop since a rout in early May fueled by concerns about a stalling global economic recovery. (Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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