The rupee swung widely on Wednesday before it closed steady in trading skewed by low volumes because of a workers strike which kept most market-making state banks away.

"Volumes were just about a fifth of the daily average," said a dealer at one bank. "With none of the big state-run banks trading, the rates swung wildly today."

The rupee leapt to a peak of 46.7550 a dollar, when central bank intervention and dollar buying by corporates to meet import payments pulled it back. It finished unchanged at the previous day's two-year closing high of 46.90/91.

Traders said some companies and banks also booked profits by reversing forward positions after rupee premiums plunged headlong to life lows.

The premium on the benchmark six-month forward bounced back 18 basis points from a historic trough to end at an annualised 0.29 per cent. It was still lower than Tuesday's 0.48 per cent.

Dealers said a section of the market, comprising mainly of private-sector and foreign banks, interpreted a senior central bank official's comments that the rupee's rise was 'quite adequate' to mean it was averse to any further gains.

The official told Reuters on Wednesday that the Reserve Bank of India was monitoring the partly convertible rupee's appreciation.

"The RBI will continue to closely watch the situation so that our market remains orderly and generally stable," he said.