(Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed 7.4% less to finance equipment investments in February compared with the same period a year earlier, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Monday.

New loans, leases and lines of credit signed up by companies in February also fell to $9.7 billion, from $9.8 billion in the year-ago period, ELFA added.

"Demand for equipment returned to healthy levels after whipsawing the last few months due to a historic swing in financing activity at banks," ELFA President and CEO Leigh Lytle said.

The Washington-based trade association, which reports economic activity for the more than $1 trillion equipment finance sector, also said credit approvals for U.S. companies were steady at 75% in February compared to the previous year.

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, ELFA's non-profit affiliate, said its confidence index for March dropped to 58.1, as respondents grew slightly more pessimistic about conditions over the next four months.

The ELFA CapEx Finance Index of leasing and finance activity is based on a 25-member survey, including Bank of America as well as the financing units of Caterpillar, Dell Technologies, Siemens AG, Canon and Volvo AB.