Caution tape hangs near the steps of Federal Hall across from the New York Stock Exchange in New York.

Frothy growth stocks in the equity market remain Wall Street's biggest risk heading into the final weeks of 2019, according to Morgan Stanley.

Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Michael Wilson wrote in a weekly report to clients that the brokerage still favors defensive, reliable stock picks and a choosier bias in general as investors look to 2020.

"We still think the greatest risk in the equity market remains in growth stocks where expectations are too high and priced," Wilson wrote. "From a sector standpoint, this is consumer discretionary broadly and expensive software and secular growth stocks."

"Focus on what you own, not how much," he added.

The strategist's advice to steer clear of consumer discretionary stocks comes after equities rallied on Friday to finish the week on a high note.

A healthy nonfarm payrolls print that showed employers added 266,000 jobs in November sparked a 337-point surge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 1.2% bump in the S&P 500, with stocks closing just below their record highs reached on Nov. 27.

But barring outperformance from a handful consumer stocks like Ulta, discretionary equities lagged the broader market as communications, energy and financials names all carried the indexes within spitting distance of their relative records.

Though the market's internal performance may not seem critical at first, the composition of equity outperformance shows that the Street may be starting to err on the side of caution in such an expensive environment.