The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Dec. 12, edition that Oppenheimer Asset Management issued one of Wall Street's most bullish S&P 500 targets for 2024 on Monday, forecasting solid corporate earnings growth and waning inflationary pressures. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that Oppenheimer chief investment strategist John Stoltzfus and colleagues set a year-end S&P 500 price target of 5,200, nearly 13 per cent above the U.S. stock index's Dec. 8 close of 4,604.37. Wall Street firms including Citigroup and Deutsche Bank have issued 2024 targets of 5,100 for the benchmark S&P 500, while BofA Global Research is among those with a target of 5,000. Oppenheimer expects 2024 to be a "year of transition" as the Federal Reserve pivots from a restrictive monetary policy setting to an easier stance, with the U.S. central bank moving to lower rates by the fourth quarter of next year. Mr. Stoltzfus said in a report, "Our outlook assumes that the slowing economic growth evident in early data for the fourth quarter for 2023 extends into 2024, further dampening the inflationary pressures." Oppenheimer expects S&P 500 earnings to rise by about 9 per cent in 2024.