A gauge of the dollar fell from a seven-month high as an unexpected slump in Chinese exports undermined confidence in global growth. The yen appreciated against all 16 major counterparts as signs of a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy spurred demand for safer assets. The Australia’s dollar fell to a three-week low as China—the nation’s biggest export market—also reported weaker-than-expected purchases from abroad. The greenback had earlier advanced after the Federal Reserve released minutes of its most recent policy meeting that showed several officials said a interest-rate increase was needed “relatively soon.” “Chinese trade data was disappointing,” said Sim Moh Siong, a currency strategist at Bank of Singapore Ltd. “The Fed is also paying attention to the rest of the world and, if the Chinese situation is not as strong as what people think, then the Fed may move more cautiously. That may undermine the dollar’s strength.” The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 major peers, was down less than 0.1 percent as of 1:04 p.m. in Tokyo after earlier rising as much as 0.2 percent to its highest since March 16. The yen jumped 0.4 percent to 103.75 per dollar after earlier depreciating to 104.64, the weakest level since July 29. The Aussie slid 0.4 percent to 75.34 U.S. cents. Chinese exports fell the most since February, while growth in imports fell short of estimates. Overseas shipments declined 5.6 percent in yuan terms in September from a year earlier, the report showed. Imports rose 2.2 percent to leave a trade surplus of 278.4 billion yuan ($41.4 billion). Odds on an increase in U.S. borrowing costs by the end of the year remained around 68 percent after the release of of the minutes Wednesday, according to Fed funds futures, up about six percentage points from a week ago. Better-than-estimated data on manufacturing to services coupled with concern inflation will accelerate is supporting the bets. That has helped the dollar pare its loss this year against a basket of major peers to 2.4 percent. “China trade data was weak, which seems to have increased risk aversion, that explains the yen strength,” said Janu Chan, a senior economist at St. George Bank Ltd. in Sydney. “The weak dollar is probably a combination of the Fed minutes not adding anything new, and yen strength brought about from weaker sentiment.”