The U.S. dollar clawed back some ground in Asian trading hours on Tuesday following five days of selling, ahead of the return of U.S. traders from the Labor Day holiday.

The dollar index was last up 0.2%, at 97.873, having touched its lowest since July 28 on Monday. Gold hit an all-time high.

"Capital markets across equities and credit are still optimistic on the U.S., which suggests that foreign holders of U.S. assets are not in retreat," analysts from DBS wrote in a client note.