BERLIN (AP) - The European Central Bank said yesterday it is lending 111.2 billion euros ($136.7 billion) to banks in a six-day tender, completing an effort to smooth over the expiry of a record batch of loans.

The ECB said 78 banks subscribed to the operation, conducted as 442 billion euros in credit granted a year ago to support banks during the financial crisis expired.

That came after the central bank said on Wednesday it would lend a lower-than-expected 131.9 billion euros to banks for three months. Neither the banks nor their nationalities were identified.

The outcome of the longer-term auction suggested that banks' cash needs are easing despite lingering worries about the impact of the eurozone debt crisis. More than 1,100 banks subscribed to last June's unusual 12-month operation.

The euro, which had dipped after gaining on Wednesday's news, climbed again and traded as high as $1.2343 on a day that also saw Spain raise 3.5 billion euros in an oversubscribed bond sale.

The total amount of liquidity sought by investors on Wednesday and yesterday was in line with initial expectations, but the breakdown between the three-month and short-term operations was unexpected, said Luca Cazzulani, an analyst with UniCredit in Milan.