Traders were also awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting on monetary policy starting on Tuesday for cues on U.S. interest rate hikes. Spot gold rose 0.4 percent to $1,200.00 per ounce by 0307 GMT, while U.S. gold futures edged up 0.5 percent to $1,199.6.

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The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 100.34. Asian shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as stringent curbs on travel to the United States ordered by President Donald Trump brought home to investors that he is serious about putting his radical campaign pledges into action.

"There are talks that the ban could affect the tech and energy sectors and this suggests that there could be some growth challenges if the ban is prolonged, so the current risk aversion (driving gold markets) comes as no surprise," OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan said.