The dollar and the yen advanced after data showed Japan’s trade deficit widened last month more than economists forecast, underlining the fragility of the global economy and boosting demand for the safest assets. The U.S. currency strengthened against all but one of its major peers after Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans described a weakening in global trade as “awful.� The Fed is scheduled to release the minutes of its July 31-Aug. 1 policy meeting today. The euro snapped two days of gains versus the greenback before Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker visits Greece. Australia’s dollar slid as demand for higher-yielding assets declined. “We’ve had the disappointing Japanese trade data and the dollar is a bit stronger,� said Jane Foley, a senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London. “The Fed minutes will be closely watched -- the dollar will come down if they signal that they will take action.� The dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to $1.2462 per euro at 9:10 a.m. London time, after sliding to $1.2488 yesterday, the weakest since July 5. The greenback was little changed at 79.30 yen. The Japanese currency advanced 0.1 percent to 98.84 per euro, while Australia’s dollar fell 0.3 percent to $1.0458. Japan’s trade deficit was 517.4 billion yen last month, following a revised 60.3 billion yen surplus in June, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 28 analysts was for a 270 billion yen deficit. Exports fell 8.1 percent from a year earlier, compared with an estimated 2.9 percent drop, the data showed. The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) uses to track the currency against those of six U.S. trading partners, rose 0.1 percent to 81.962. To contact the reporters on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net; Kristine Aquino in Singapore at kaquino1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

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