- $4 analysts lifted their $4 target to 4,200 from 4,050 on Thursday, citing Democrats' victories in Georgia Senate runoff elections as key to ushering in additional fiscal stimulus.
- The new target implies a roughly 10% climb from current levels.
- The bank expects President-elect Biden to pass fresh fiscal support that includes another round of direct payments for Americans.
- New stimulus "will further fan these flames" of pent-up consumer demand as the economy reopens, the team added.
- $4.
Democrats' upcoming control of the US Senate paves the way for a new fiscal stimulus and healthy stock-market returns throughout 2021, $4 analysts said Thursday.
The team led by
Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock's victories in Georgia Senate runoff elections bring Democrats' seat count in the legislative body to 50, meaning any ties will be broken by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The shift in power gives Democrats unified control of the government for the first time since 2011 and gives Biden a far easier path for passing progressive policy.
Fresh fiscal support is likely among the President-elect's first initiatives when he takes office later this month,
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A stronger stimulus response, when combined with a swift reopening, can accelerate the country's economic rebound, the team of analysts said.
"While the timeline for vaccination rollouts has proven underwhelming, the likely avalanche of pent-up consumer demand cannot be ignored. Any additional stimulus will further fan these flames," they added.
The bank upgraded several cyclical sectors to "overweight" from "market weight," including industrials, materials, and consumer discretionary
The team downgraded the tech, consumer services, and internet retail sectors to "market weight" from "overweight." Health care and financial stocks remain the bank's "highest conviction overweights."
Several other Wall Street giants similarly upgraded their outlooks for stocks and the US economy following Georgia's elections. $4 economists said Wednesday that another $1 trillion in stimulus can "easily" boost US economic growth by one point to 6% in 2021.
$4 lifted its 2021 growth estimate $4 on Thursday, citing its expectation for a $750 stimulus package being passed in the first quarter.
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