Just over two weeks into the fourth-quarter 2012 corporate earnings season and some 200 companies on the S&P 500 have published their reports, making this a good juncture to assess progress so far, says Peter Garnry, Head of Equity Strategy at Saxo Bank, in this video.

The most striking conclusion is the underperformance seen in the energy and materials sector which have laboured under sluggish sales – a key indicator in the current climate.On the other side of the coin, the healthcare and financial sectors have stood out as winners, with major US banks putting in especially strong performances.

See more commentary about equities from Peter Garnry on TradingFloor.com