LONDON, June 13 Reuters The safe haven dollar gained towards fresh twodecade highs versus major rival currencies on Monday, supported by fears over a global economic slowdown and bets on steep interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The yen was among a host of currencies swept lower on the day, to its lowest level versus the dollar since 1998, as the gap between Japanese and U.S. benchmark yields widened after red hot U.S. inflation data on Friday.

A selloff across markets saw European stocks fall for a fifth straight session, while Bitcoin tumbled 9 to 18month lows around 24,000. 

The dollar index which tracks the greenback against six major peers gained as much as 0.5 on the day to 104.75, close to the twodecade peak of 105.01 hit in May. It was last up 0.2 at 104.63.

Central banks39; efforts to curtail runaway inflation will remain in focus this week.

The Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are expected to raise interest rates at their meetings and there is a chance the Swiss National Bank will do the same.

The Bank of Japan BoJ has so far resisted pressure to tighten policy, weakening the country39;s currency. The policy divergence has sent the yen down more than 15 against the dollar since early March.

The yen fell as much as 0.6 on the day to 135.22 yen per dollar, its lowest since 1998. It was last broadly flat at 134.37 yen per dollar.

Japan39;s top government spokesperson said on Monday that Tokyo stood ready to respond appropriately if…