People walk on Zurich's main shopping street Bahnhofstrasse April 13, 2012.
CREDIT: REUTERS/ARND WIEGMANN
(Reuters) - Switzerland's exports rose in September, bouncing back from a drop the previous month, with international demand for its watches and precision instruments offsetting the impact ofeuro zone stagnation, data showed on Tuesday.
Exports rose by an inflation-adjusted 2.2 percent year-on-year in September to 17.523 billion Swiss francs ($18.62 billion). On a nominal basis, the increase was 4.4 percent.
Double-digit nominal growth in North America and Latin America contributed to the rise, with flat sales to the European Union, which buys almost 60 percent of Swiss exports, continuing to be a drag on exports.
Sales to euro zone countries, which account for 45.5 percent of the total, dipped by 0.2 percent in nominal terms. This was despite a cap on the value of the Swiss franc against the euro put in place by the Swiss central bank that has helped protect exports from the strong Swiss francs.
The Swiss economy unexpectedly stalled in the second quarter on 2014, according to data released on Sept. 2, as trade took a hit from stagnation in Europe.
Tuesday's export figures were helped by a 3.1 percent inflation-adjusted rise in watch sales. Sales of precision tools, such as medical instruments, rose 8 percent, while metal sales posted year-on-year growth of 5.4 percent.
However, exports of jewelry items plummeted 24.6 percent. Sales of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, the country's largest export category, also fell 0.5 percent.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
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