Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI): The rupee surged 46 paise to close at 94.45 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, PTI reported in its newsalert.

A separate PTI report via The Sen Times put the provisional close at 94.43, up 48 paise from Monday's close of 94.91 — forex markets were closed on Tuesday for Dussehra — and said the currency opened at 94.78, touched an intraday high of 94.41 and a low of 94.82. It noted a similar closing level was last recorded on September 4.

Reuters, reporting via The Hindu BusinessLine, said the rupee closed up 0.5% at 94.46 after touching a peak of 94.43, its strongest level since early September, helped by foreign portfolio inflows linked to Jio Platforms' $3.2 billion IPO — India's largest share sale, which was fully subscribed in less than two hours of public bidding on Wednesday. The slightly different closing figures are the provisional rates reported by the different agencies.

Reuters said the rupee trimmed gains in the latter half as oil prices rose and local stocks fell, with Brent crude last up 1.3% at over $110 per barrel. 'Volatility in oil will keep rupee a little on the defensive but sharp falls are unlikely in the near term,' a trader at a state-run lender told Reuters.

Anuj Choudhary of Mirae Asset Sharekhan told PTI the rupee rose to a six-week high on IPO-driven foreign inflows and a relatively weak US dollar, but weak domestic markets and elevated crude capped sharp gains, and he expected USD-INR to trade in a range of Rs 94.20 to Rs 94.80.

Sources: PTI newsalert via Dailyworld, PTI via The Sen Times, Reuters via The Hindu BusinessLine.