Indian equity markets have witnessed overseas inflows of nearly $23 billion in the year 2012, making the benchmark indices - the Sensex and Nifty - the third best-performing index after Thailand's SET and Germany's DAX.
Most experts believe that the next calendar year, 2013, does hold promise with the equity segment witnessing an increased retail participation, which inturn, may push the Sensex to new highs in the coming year.
Smart Investor's Aastha Agnihotri spoke to a host of analysts across leading research houses and brokerages across the country for their stock picks for 2013. (See table below)
| Auto / Auto Ancillary | BUY | M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Exide Industries |
| Banking | BUY | SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank, Dena Bank, IndusInd Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Yes Bank |
| Capital Goods | BUY | Havells India, Symphony Ltd, BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge, Thermax, Va Tech Wabag, Cummins India |
| Cement | BUY | Madras Cement, JP Associates |
| Consumer Durables | BUY | Astral Polytech, , Raymond, Mcleod Russel |
| HOLD | Bata India, Titan Industries | |
| FMCG | BUY | ITC |
| HOLD | Hindustan Unilever | |
| Healthcare/Pharma | BUY | Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Cipla, Wockhardt, Fortis Healthcare, Lupin, Cadila, Strides Arcolab, Natco Pharma |
| IT | BUY | TCS, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Wipro |
| Media & Entertainment | BUY | Zee Entertainment, Dish TV, TV18 |
| Metal | BUY | NMDC, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Steel |
| NBFCs | BUY | Reliance Capital, L&T Finance Holdings,HDFC, IDFC |
| Power | BUY | PFC, REC |
| Realty | BUY | DLF |
| Shipping | BUY | Adani Ports & SEZ |
| Telecom | SELL | Reliance Communications |