Swiss exports add to gloom with fall in Feb

* Trade surplus of 2.1 bln Swiss francs in February

* Exports fall a real 5.3 pct year/year

* Weaker demand for machines and pharmaceuticals

ZURICH, March 21 (Reuters) - Swiss exports fell in February as pharmaceuticals and machinery industries were dragged down by weaker demand in Europe and Asia and the strong Swiss franc.

Exports from Switzerland fell by a real 5.3 percent year-on-year in February to 16.145 billion Swiss francs ($17.06 billion), the Federal Customs Office said on Thursday.

Adjusted for one working day less than in February last year, they were still down 0.9 percent, the office said.

Exports of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, the country's biggest export category, slid 8.4 percent, while machines and electronic devices, which have been particularly hard hit by the franc's surge since 2007, fell 4.1 percent.

Watch exports were down 7.1 percent as exports to important markets Hong Kong and China saw double-digit declines, the watch federation said in a statement.

The franc, capped by the Swiss National Bank at 1.20 per euro in 2011 to fend off deflation and recession, strengthened around 1 percent in February on renewed worries about the euro zone crisis, hurting Swiss exporters.

"It shows the global recovery is not accelerating as expected, and as we all know Swiss exports are highly dependent on that," Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING, said, adding he expected the Swiss economy to accelerate in the third quarter.

Exports to Germany, Switzerland's biggest trading partner, fell 3.6 percent. Sales of Swiss products to Asia were down 7.2 percent on weak demand in India, China and Hong Kong.

Overall, Switzerland ran a trade surplus of 2.1 billion francs in February.

Other recent data out of Switzerland have pointed to a slow recovery in economic activity. The Swiss purchasing managers' index rose less than expected in February, and ZEW investor sentiment fell in March.

The Swiss government slightly upgraded its outlook for 2014 growth earlier this week, striking a more upbeat note than the SNB, which has warned that the euro zone crisis could resurface and trigger fresh inflows into the franc.

"We have seen that export demand for Swiss products are gradually rising so we don't think that this slightly weaker data in February are a trend," Credit Suisse economist Maxime Botteron said.

The International Monetary Fund said on Monday the SNB should maintain its cap on the franc and introduce negative interest rates on excess bank reserves if the franc comes under fresh appreciation pressures. ($1 = 0.9462 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz, Katharina Bart and Caroline Copley)

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Keywords: SWISS ECONOMY/TRADE