KARACHI, Aug 25: The rupee on Wednesday made a third straight gain of three paisa against the US dollar in the inter-bank market. On Monday and Tuesday also the rupee had gained two paisa and three paisa, respectively, against the greenback.

Thus the local currency has gained eight paisa to a US dollar in three days. Senior bankers said the rupee closed at 58.68 a US dollar on Wednesday, up from 58.71 on Tuesday as importers made no big dollar buying, but exporters continued usual selling of export proceeds.

Senior bankers told Dawn that the rupee had not moved up on dollar selling by the State Bank. "The central bank did not sell dollars. The rupee went up as importers' demand for dollars was thin," said treasurer of a leading local bank. He said the money market remained tight despite an inflow of Rs20 billion, adding that overnight call rates ranged between five and 5.5 per cent.