Defensive stocks resist Thursday sell-off

The market took a beating on Thursday, but at least a few defensive and rate-sensitive sectors managed to fend off a sell-off.

Stocks of utilities, real estate, health care and consumer discretionary companies were all higher, with ETFs tracking each of those four sectors recently rising at least 0.6%, according to FactSet data.

The SPDR Utilities Select Sector fund led the way, up 1.4% to $73 a share, extending gains from earlier in the week.

The rise in profits was likely fueled by a decline in Treasury yields, as stocks are typically viewed as bond equivalents.

Here’s how other sector ETFs performed:

Shares of the Health-Care Select Sector SPDR fund rose 0.8% to $150.90 a share.

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR fund rose 0.6% to $78.31.

The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR fund rose 1.1% to $41.68.