Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve surprised the market by cutting interest rates by 50 basis points, signaling that the Fed would shift towards maintaining economic growth. The move prompted Wall Street giants Barclays and Citigroup to take a more optimistic stance on global cyclical stocks. Cyclical stocks are typically sensitive to interest rates and economic growth, rising as financial conditions ease and the economy expands. Barclays believes that the Fed's actions are “clearly aimed at doing everything possible to achieve a soft landing for the economy.” Barclays equity strategist Emmanuel Cau said in a report to clients on September 20 titled “Don't fight the Fed, don't short cyclical stocks” that “time will tell, but as the The incoming data remains stable and a soft landing remains on track, with stocks rising despite economic concerns and Fed policy, Barclays strategists noted. Cyclical stocks typically rebound steadily after a rate-cutting cycle…as long as a recession doesn't follow. “Citi strategists have a similar view on European stocks. Citi strategists led by Beata Manthey said in a report to clients on September 20, “In addition to Fed rate cuts and “soft landing” hopes, this shows that We may be approaching the appropriate time to start averaging into specific oversold cyclical stocks, which historically has been a contrarian indicator, often preceded by cyclical stocks outperforming over the next 12 months, they added. . Citi strategists said: “The scale of recent downgrades has become so extreme that we are now approaching the point where a negative ERI could be a useful contrarian indicator. The Wall Street bank screened buy-rated stocks whose forward valuation ratios have fallen since the end of the first half of the year, but consensus profit forecasts have improved from last month. Stocks screened include Siemens, Safran, BBVA, ING , Holcim, Atlas Copco and ASM, among others. Most of the bank's picks also trade in the U.S. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.