Goldman Sachs lifted its year-end target on the S & P 500 and sees market laggards playing catch up with this year's leaders. The Wall Street firm boosted its 2023 forecast for the S & P 500 to 4,500, which represents about 5% upside from current levels and is a 12.5% increase from Goldman's previous target of 4,000. Signs of such a shift have recently emerged as cyclical stocks have outperformed their defensive counterparts lately, but plenty of cyclicals have missed out, Goldman said. To find opportunities among the laggards, Goldman screened the Russell 3000 Index, looking for cyclical stocks with market caps greater than $2 billion. It found a list of names with valuations below the S & P 500 and improving fundamentals, demonstrated by improved 2024 earnings revisions.

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Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, David Kostin Organizations: Fed, Equity Investment, CNO Financial, Everest Re, RenaissanceRe Holdings Locations: Cleveland