Motilal Oswal picks 14 stocks to play on credit growth, capex themes in 2023

Despite the global headwinds, Indian equities outshined in 2022 and gave net positive returns compared to the double-digit negative returns by most emerging and developed markets.

However, global factors like recessionary fears in the US and Europe, geopolitical risks and rising Covid-19 cases in China are likely to bring in volatility in the coming year, said Motilal Oswal Broking and Distribution.

Against the backdrop of a promising domestic growth outlook, Motilal Oswal expects two themes to play out in 2023 – credit growth and capital investment.

Motilal Oswal Broking expects sectors like banks, financial services and insurance, capital goods, infrastructure, cement, housing, defence, and railways to be in focus.

Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Maruti Suzuki India, UltraTech Cement, Titan Co, PI Industries, Macrotech Developers, Indian Hotels, Bharat Forge, Westlife Development, Infosys and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise are the top bets for the brokerage in 2023.

Year-to-date, the benchmark Nifty50 has risen 7%, compared to the 10-20% fall witnessed in most global indices.

Driven by the outperformance, Nifty50 trades at 20 times its 1-year forward earnings, which seems fair for the broking firm.

As 2023 approaches, the US Federal Reserve’s policy actions with the Reserve Bank of India would hold importance, where any moderation might encourage markets to pick up momentum, it said.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)