German engineering orders surged in March from a year earlier, though big-ticket items played an "important role" in driving the annual gain, the VDMA plant and equipment makers association said on Wednesday. "The interesting question is how far we can talk about a broad upswing in the machinery sector beyond this one-off effect," said VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers. Big-ticket items include whole factories or high-volume orders for machinery, Wiechers said. "In the domestic arena we are more cautious," he added. "Core business is still on shaky foundations, whereas foreign orders have already picked up." VDMA said overall engineering orders rose 37 percent from a year earlier in March, the biggest gain since August 1997. The rise was led by a 41 percent rise in foreign orders. Domestic orders increased 28 percent year-on-year. VDMA noted its three month average, covering January through March, showed a 17 percent year-on-year rise overall, with domestic orders gaining 15 percent and foreign orders 18 percent.///