Gold was unable to recover on Tuesday from sharp losses incurred the previous day, with investors filled with uncertainty over when the US Federal Reserve would begin to taper its monetary stimulus, while physical demand for the metal remained weak. "Markets are just reacting to those stimulus comments because there has been no other significant data and physical demand is failing to provide a floor," said one Hong Kong-based trader. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,274.96 an ounce at 0739 GMT, after dropping 1.2 percent on Monday.