** S&P 500 .SPX slumps 5th-straight week, sheds 2.1% as Middle East war suppresses risk appetite .N

** Dow .DJI sheds 0.9% and Nasdaq Composite .IXIC slides 3.2% as both indexes enter correction territory

** SPX kicked off the week with traders braced for sharp swings, and any relief rally meeting a key moving average

** Indeed, bulls await breadth thrust as a Nasdaq internal strength gauge continues to slide, and volatility on watch as Nasdaq bulls and bears battle at key levels

** On Friday, Cboe Volatility Index .VIX posts highest close since April 2025

** U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield US10YT=RR rises as much as 4.48% before pulling back to around 4.43%, highest since July. Iran war uncertainty keeps energy prices elevated US/

Rising benchmark Treasury yield signals potential breakout as Iran war drives volatility

** Most sectors uneasy: Communication Services and Tech have biggest misgivings, while Materials and Energy provide consolation

** Communication Services .SPLRCL collapses 7.2%. Facebook-parent Meta META.O, Google-owner Alphabet GOOGL.O descend after US jury verdicts on social media harm

Though telecom services co EchoStar SATS.O, which owns SpaceX stock, rises after report Elon Musk's firm aiming to file its IPO prospectus

** Tech .SPLRCT sags 3.5%. Memory chipmakers like SanDisk SNDK.O and Micron MU.O drop after Google announces memory-saving algorithm

Semiconductor index .SOX loses 2.8%

Cybersecurity stocks CrowdStrike CRWD.O and Palo Alto Networks PANW.O decline Fri after report Anthropic developing new advanced AI model that presents potential security risks

** Financials .SPSY flop 2.1%. Coinbase COIN.O falls after report new crypto Clarity Act draft prohibits stablecoin yield payments

Ares Management ARES.N slips on Tues after limiting redemptions at private credit fund, echoing moves by peers including Apollo Global APO.N

** Consumer Discretionary .SPLRCD down 1.9%. Estee Lauder EL.N tumbles 22% on week as deal with Spain's Puig PUIGb.MC sparks investor pushback

** Consumer Staples .SPLRCS up 1.2%. Brown-Forman BFb.N jumps as Jack Daniel's maker in merger talks with France's Pernod Ricard PERP.PA

** Energy .SPNY pops 6.2%. Occidental Petroleum OXY.N moves higher after Reuters report longtime CEO Vicki Hollub to step down later this year

Group climbs as oil prices elevate on Mideast ceasefire skepticism O/R

** Meanwhile, individual investor bears dip, but still 'unusually high'

** 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))