** S&P 500 .SPX snaps two-week losing streak, rallies 2.9% amid easing inflation jitters, strong start to earnings season .N

** Dow .DJI advances 3.7%, Nasdaq Composite .IXIC ascends 2.4%

** U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield US10YT=RR pulls back to around 4.6%

** Indeed, SPX finds support, vaults to the upside, ends down less than 1.7% from its record highs

** This as the broader market, which has been on the back foot, finally catches a break

** Every sector has a winning week; Energy, Financials and Materials most decisive

** Energy .SPNY surges 6.1%. Oilfield services firm SLB SLB.N, previously called Schlumberger, rises on Q4 profit beat, buybacks and dividend boost. Crude oil futures CLc1: About to make a big leap, or come up lame?

** Financials .SPSY swell by 6.1%. Big banks jump as investment banking powers profits, in stellar Q4

For the week, S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK pops 7.4%, ends Fri at record closing high, while KBW regional banking index .KRX scores 8% gain

And BlackRock BLK.N gains as assets hit record $11.6 trillion in Q4

** Materials .SPLRCM climb 6%. Specialty chemicals firm Celanese CE.N gains on BofA double upgrade

** Industrials .SPLRCI up 4.8%. United Rentals URI.N rises 15% on deal to acquire H&E Equipment Services HEES.O

** Tech .SPLRCT up 1.6%. Chip-equipment firms Applied Materials AMAT.O and Lam Research LRCX.O advance after analyst upgrades

Semiconductor index .SOX up >5%

** Communication Services .SPLRCL up 1.3%. Instagram-owner Meta Platforms META.O edges into positive territory Fri after US Supreme Court rules against Tiktok

** Healthcare .SPXHC ticks up 0.3%. Though Moderna MRNA.O slides 19% after 2025 sales forecast cut, hurt by slow RSV shot launch and weak COVID-19 vaccines demand

** Meanwhile, individual Investor bulls flee, bears make themselves known

** SPX performance YTD:

(Lance Tupper and Terence Gabriel are Reuters market analysts. The views expressed are their own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com

terence.gabriel@tr.com))