While the U.S. Federal Reserve paused its rate-hikes in September, investors are watching closely if the ECB will follow suit (rate announcement on Thursday, October 26).

The S&P 500 index has grappled with a sharp decline of just over 6 per cent since its September high amid rising interest rates which have sent shockwaves through financial markets. Our stock screen has identified a select group of U.S.-listed companies that appear to be defying the odds. Even in the face of the broader market’s challenges, these stocks continue to outperform the S&P 500.

Investors are now watching closely if upcoming inflation data (due Thursday, October 12) would trigger the central bank to resume hiking rates.

Top-quality U.S.-listed stocks using a methodology that examines a quality-factor investing strategy

As widely expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve maintained its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range. The next piece of inflation data the Fed watches carefully should be the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index.

Using Trading Central's Market Buzz and looking into Top Buzzing ranking to find premarket moves, we have identified FedEx as an interesting choice.

Investors should be focusing on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rate next Wednesday (September 20). Meanwhile, central banks of Japan and the U.K. will also make decisions on interest rates.

This week, we built a strategy that screens for U.S.-listed stocks that look attractive from a value, quantitative and income perspective and may be able to weather turbulent times if the recent downtrend in U.S. equities continues into the end of the year.

This week's report focuses on identifying top-performing companies during the current recession. We narrowed down our search to companies in Basic Materials, Consumer Defensive, and Real Estate sectors.