Five high-yielding defensive stocks to buy now

There are plenty of defensive sectors and stocks which look attractive for those seeking a diverse range of income stocks. Here are five to buy now.

In terms of investors' lack of interest, low valuations and high yields, you can't beat utilities. But plenty of other defensive sectors and stocks still look attractive for those seeking a diverse range of income stocks. Take pharmaceuticals. The sector has fallen out favour with investors over the past decade, and now the prospect of US healthcare reform, which could hit future profits, has been taking its toll on pharma share prices too.

Investors fret that "expiring patents will put pressure on billions of dollars of blockbuster drug sales over the next few years", says the FT's Lex. "Yet the industry has been in a similar position before". Drug makers pulled through the 1960s and 1970s "when research productivity plummeted" by creating "a series of new blockbusters and two decades of bumper profits".

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