Buy these 24 quality stocks to safeguard your portfolio from higher interest rates, according to BMO Capital Markets

• The US economy has defied expectations by staying strong despite higher interest rates.
• But BMO Capital Markets warns that weakness may be coming, since monetary policy works with a lag.
• Here are 24 high-quality stocks to buy now to protect your portfolio from higher rates.

To the shock of the Federal Reserve and many on Wall Street, the US economy refuses to die.

Higher interest rates designed to slow inflation haven’t choked economic growth, crushed consumer spending, or sent the unemployment rate spiking like so many expected last summer.