UPDATE 2-Dover sees no second-half recovery; shares drop

* Q2 EPS ex-items $0.54 vs $0.46 expected

* Q2 rev down 31 pct to $1.4 bln

* Sees 2009 EPS $1.75 to $2.00

* Shares down 6.9 pct (Adds comment from conference call, stock movement)

NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Industrial conglomerate Dover Corp (DOV.N) reported a 28 percent drop in second-quarter profit and cut its 2009 earnings forecast, saying it expected no second-half recovery in most of its markets, and its shares fell nearly 7 percent.

"While we are comfortable that our markets will not get worse in the back half of the year, we do not believe they will meaningfully improve either," Chief Executive Bob Livingston said on a conference call with analysts on Friday.

Net earnings fell to $97.1 million, or 52 cents per share, from $135.3 million, or 71 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding charges and other items, earnings from continuing operations came to 54 cents a share. Analysts on average expected profit of 46 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue fell 31 percent to $1.40 billion, compared with Wall Street forecasts for sales of $1.46 billion.

Dover noted its U.S. sales fell at a much slower rate than those in Europe, Asia or other overseas markets, a point Ingersoll Rand also made in its earnings release Friday. [ID:nN24447244]

New York-based Dover, which gets about 59 percent of its sales from the United States, makes products ranging from supermarket equipment and garbage trucks to pumps, valves and tools for assembling electronics.

The company said it expected 2009 profit of $1.75 to $2.00 per share, down from an April forecast of $2.00 to $2.30.

Dover shares were down 6.9 percent at $33.99 in morning New York Stock Exchange trading. (Reporting by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)