LONDON, 24 July 2004 — The dollar made solid gains against major currencies yesterday, still benefiting from upbeat comments made earlier in the week by US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

The single European currency fell to 1.2157 dollars from 1.2256 late on Thursday in New York. The dollar rose to 110.14 yen from 109.77 on Thursday.

The dollar has posted sharp gains recently following upbeat comments from Greenspan on the US economy, reinforcing expectations of further US interest rate hikes.

This week is set to be the first in six when the euro finishes lower against the dollar after Greenspan’s comments cemented expectations for a rate hike at the next meeting of the US rate-setting body on Aug. 10.

The euro was changing hands at 1.2127 dollars from 1.2256 late on Thursday in New York, 133.54 yen (134.52), 0.6616 pounds (0.6647) and 1.5311 Swiss francs (1.5298).

The dollar stood at 110.14 yen (109.77) and 1.2641 Swiss francs (1.2483). The pound was at 1.8337 dollars (1.8436), 201.94 yen (202.34) and 2.3151 Swiss francs (2.3016).

Meanwhile, European stock markets ended the week mostly lower yesterday.

In London the FTSE 100 index bucked the weaker trend, gaining 0.46 percent to close at 4,326.3 on the back of news that Spanish bank SCH was considering a takeover bid for British bank Abbey National.

But in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.16 percent to finish at 3,567.29, while in Frankfurt the DAX gave up 0.10 percent to end the session at 3,797.33. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares sagged 0.26 percent to 2,673.44 points.

Elsewhere in Europe, Madrid’s Ibex-35 shed 1.01 percent to 7,845 points, Amsterdam’s AEX dipped 0.09 percent to 324.68, Brussels Bel-20 slipped 0.30 percent to 2,415.52, Milan’s Mib 30 nudged down 0.07 percent to 27,282 but the SMI index of Swiss shares gained 0.09 percent to 5,482.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded 54.35 points (0.54 percent) to 9,995.98 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite slumped 27.18 points (1.44 percent) to 1,861.88 at 1540 GMT.

The broad-market Standard and Poor’s 500 index shed 7.79 points (0.71 percent) to 1,089.05.

Asian stock markets closed mixed yesterday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 97.71 points to 11,187.33 while the broader TOPIX index of all First Section shares fell 9.02 points or 0.79 percent to 1,135.29.

In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng Index was up 32.78 points to end at 12,352.99, off a low of 12,286.02 and a high of 12,387.96 on turnover of 10.22 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.31 billion).

The Shanghai A-share Index fell 0.05 points to 1,477.01, off a low of 1,455.71, on turnover of 6.87 billion yuan ($829 million) while the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 1.23 points at 372.98 on turnover of 4.17 billion yuan.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A- and B-shares, closed down 0.04 points at 1,407.40 on turnover of 6.92 billion yuan.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 12.71 points to finish at 1,850.26, while the All Singapore Equities index lost 3.21 points to 487.2.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share benchmark Sensex index closed 19.05 points higher at 5,073.34 points.