Gold inched up on Tuesday, off a one-month low hit in the previous session, but upbeat US retail sales data appeared to undermine the necessity for stimulus measures and dented gold's appeal as a hedge against monetary easing. Spot gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,738.80 an ounce by 0636 GMT, after falling to a one-month low of $1,728.75 in the previous session. It dropped 1 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day decline in three months. US gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,740.40.