September's Historical Declines May Make Room for Defensive Stocks

September has historically been a challenging month for U.S. equities, with an average decline of 0.7% in the S&P 500 index since 1950 and 0.8% in the Dow during the same period.

The Nasdaq Composite has fallen 0.9% in September since 1971, while the small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 has declined 0.8% in the same month since 1979.

A Bank of America research report revealed that in September, the S&P 500 has lost 1.17% on average since 1928 and the broad-market index has ended in the negative in 56% of those years.

This year's market participants are concerned about crude oil prices, both WTI and Brent, hitting $106 and $108 per barrel, respectively, due to prolonged geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, as well as soaring yields on U.S. Treasury Notes with a 10-Year bond hitting a 19-year high.

To safeguard their portfolios, investors may consider low-beta (beta >0<1) high-yielding defensive stocks, such as Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. ADM, Amgen Inc. AMGN and Sunoco LPSUN, which have provided double-digit returns year to date and carry a Zacks Rank of either #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy).