With the global economy struggling at the moment, many commentators are bullish on the resources sector for next year.
The idea is that mining has its fortunes directly related to how confident consumers and businesses feel, because that pushes up demand for raw materials.
So that could be considered the low-hanging fruit for next year.
But what about other sectors?
Ausbil chief investment officer Paul Xiradis offered his thoughts this week.
"Heading into 2024, the economy is now in the early stages of normalisation.
"While there is much geopolitical risk, the global economy is on an upward path, and is expected to grow by 3.2% in 2024 on Ausbil's forecasts."
The mining sector's dominance in Australia will steer the nation away from a recession, he added.
"There is room for some upward surprise in certain sectors as Australia's economy remains relatively resilient and is operating near full employment."
'Quality leaders with operational and pricing leverage'
Xiradis' team feels like earnings growth will be hard to generate in 2024.
"However, there are several areas where we expect to see growth," he said.
"We favour earnings growth from GDP-agnostic sectors and stocks, and quality leaders with demonstrated operational and pricing leverage."
The four non-mining sectors that fit this bill, according to Xiradis, are healthcare, technology, telecommunications and commercial services.
Cost cutting and a slowdown in interest rate rises saw tech shares make a comeback this year after a punishing 2022.
"Ausbil sees technology as a potential earnings rerate in FY24. However, as most are long-duration growth assets, the impact will be variable," said Xiradis.
"We expect pressures on valuation multiples overall, particularly for non-profitable tech stocks. We are selective, and favour tech with underlying sustainable cash flows with strong and growing earnings."
The overall valuation of the Australian share market is "currently sitting close to long-term average multiples on a suppressed earnings outlook".
But Xiradis warned that the market average "never really tells the story on its own".
"Consensus currently expects earnings contraction in FY24 of -4.0% for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), then a return to earnings growth of +4.7% in FY25," he said.
"However, we believe that earnings growth well above the system can be achieved in some sectors in FY24, and through key quality opportunities looking ahead."
