The rupee today lost 17 paise to 62.02 against the dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to month-end demand of the US currency from importers. Dollar strengthening against other currencies in the global market also put pressure on the rupee but sustained rise in domestic equities capped the fall.The domestic currency had closed higher by 31 paise at 61.85 on Friday after a rally in local equities and fresh sales of the US currency by exporters.