4 ASX 200 stocks unphased by the May selloff

"Sell in May and go away" has lived up to its name, with the S&P/ASX 200 down around -7.2% in just eight trading sessions.

Defensive sectors have strongly outperformed growth-related stocks, with a number of ASX 200 companies hardly phased by the selloff and panic.

The defensive rotation reflects the desire to hold stocks with strong cashflows and dividends amid a rising interest rate environment.

Here are four stocks that have managed to stand tall this month.

#1 CSL 

CSL (ASX: CSL) is finally showing off its market darling status after a prolonged period of underperformance against the ASX 200.

CSL received 4 Buy-rated notes from brokers including Citi, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley and Ord Minnett in April. The average price target was $316.87.

The positive takeaways include:

• Estimates that plasma collections will return to pre-covid levels in the second-half of FY22

• Leverage market position in iron deficiency and chronic kidney disease markets

From a technical perspective, CSL's price action has been constructive.

While subject to some understandable intraday volatility, CSL shares have been tightening around the $270 level. The stock is currently trying to break out of its 3-month trading range and pushing the 200-day moving average.

CSL price chart (Source: TradingView, Annotations by Market Index)

#2 Coles 

It looks like the 'everyone still needs groceries during a recession' logic is holding up for Coles (ASX: COL).

The stock is within 5% of all-time highs and again, completely unphased by the broader market.

Coles' third quarter update was solid, with Group sales up 3.6% to $9.1bn, slightly ahead of consensus expectations.

Encouragingly, management observed that covid-related costs were trending lower and supply chain issues were beginning to improve.

Coles weekly price chart (Source: TradingView)

#3 QBE Insurance

QBE (ASX: QBE) is leveraged to benefit from higher interest rates.

QBE shares rallied 5.5% last Thursday, 5 May after reporting 19% growth in gross written premiums and a negligible impact from the Ukraine conflict and flooding across Australia's east coast.

QBE shares are again, unchanged in May and trading close to 2 year highs.

QBE weekly price chart (Source: TradingView)

#4 Endeavour Group

Endeavour (ASX: EDV) is another name within an arms reach of all-time highs.

The company's March quarter trading update saw retail sales fall -3% to $2.3bn and hotels sales rose 3.8% to $405m.

The bipolar business segment earnings reflect a shift from covid-induced home consumption back to pub consumption and pend up demand for travel accommodation.

While March quarter revenues were slightly ahead of broker expectations, consensus views the stock as a Hold with a $7.28 target price.

Macquarie pointed out that Endeavour is trading around a price-to-earnings of 29 compared to Coles' 25.

Endeavour weekly price chart (Source: TradingView)