By Wallace Witkowski and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks returned to near their highs of the day Tuesday following a sizable drop following reports of fighting on the ground in Ukraine.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), which had been down as much as 100 points at midday, rose 76 points, or 0.5%, to 16,249 at last check. The index reached an intraday low of 16,063.20.

The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 10 points, or 0.5%, to 1,841, with energy and utilities faring best among the index's 10 sectors. It had reached an intraday low of 1,816.24 earlier. The benchmark is down 0.4% for the year.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) entered positive territory after being down most of the day. It was last up 9 points, or 0.3%, to 4,032. Earlier, the Nasdaq fell to an intraday low of 3,946.03, about 12 points shy of being down 10% from its recent intraday high on March 6. The Nasdaq is down 3.4% for the year.

Stocks rose early on upbeat earnings reports from Coca-Cola Co. and Johnson & Johnson Inc. Their big tumble came following reports that Russian forces had been spotted in the Ukraine and that Ukrainian forces stormed an airport in Kramatorsk held by pro-Russian militants. Ukrainian forces reportedly secured the airport. The White House said pro-Russian militants are provoking Ukrainian forces into a confrontation.

"In my view, the Russian headlines were the cause for the decline," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG.

Equities started pulling back from earlier session highs after a lower-than-anticipated reading for a gauge of home-builder confidence. Also weighing on sentiment was an unexpected decline in the Empire State manufacturing index.

Tuesday's big swings are pretty much in line with the volatility stocks have seen over the past few weeks said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management.

"We've seen big swings and that's more a sign of investor indecision about anything and everything," Nolte said. "We're still trying to piece together what the investing landscape will be in three months."

The market's choppy action and slight year-to-date loss isn't surprising after 2013's big advance, said Jim Kee, president and chief economist at South Texas Money Management. Kee said the firm has been telling clients to expect one or more pullbacks or corrections this year, but ultimately a gain by the end of the year.

"It's kind of typical following a year like we had last year," he said of the market's slumps in 2014. Kee said the U.S. economy is normalizing, and he remains bullish. "We've been telling our clients that a pullback or a correction is a good time to put money to work," he said.

Among chart watchers, some see further pain in at least the near term for the S&P 500.

Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at MKM Partners, wrote in a note Tuesday that he expects the benchmark to slip to its 200-day moving average, which is currently around the 1,763 level. He's "looking for the SPX to test the 200 DMA in the next week or so," he wrote.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged up slightly in April to a reading of 47 from 46 in March, but that missed forecasts for 50.

In other U.S. economic news, the New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State manufacturing index slipped to 1.3 in April from 5.6 in March, missing forecasts for a gain to 8. In addition, the Labor Department said U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2%, slightly above what economists expected for that inflation gauge.

On the earnings front, Dow component Coca-Cola (KO) reported growth in key emerging markets as first-quarter revenue beat forecasts. Shares gained 3.8% to lead the Dow.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) advanced 1.8% after the Dow component reported quarterly earnings that beat forecasts and raised its full-year profit guidance. J&J was the second-best performer in the blue-chip index.

Several Fed speakers were also on the docket. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said big banks may need more capital, while Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser is moderating a panel discussion that began at 3 p.m. Eastern at the Atlanta Fed conference.

Meanwhile, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren is scheduled to speak at Husson University in Bangor, Maine, at 4 p.m. Eastern. Rosengren is a leading dove on the Fed policy committee, but not a voting member in 2014, and Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, a voting member, is speaking at a town hall in Fargo, N.D., at 8 p.m. Eastern. Read: Spotlight on the economy

After the market's close, Intel Corp. (INTC) is forecast to post first-quarter earnings of 37 cents a share, and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) is likely to report earnings of 37 cents a share in the first quarter. Intel was last up 0.6%, while Yahoo rose 1.4%. Read Commentary: Does anyone know what Yahoo wants to be?

"We expect Yahoo to report another muted quarter," analyst Youssef Squali at Cantor Fitzgerald said in a note. "While 2013 represented a year of right-sizing, investment and acquisition, we think 2014 should be the year where monetization efforts drive a resumption in top-line growth, starting with first quarter 2014."

Among other notable movers on Tuesday, Citigroup Inc. (C) advanced 1.2%, building on a gain from Monday, when the bank reported first-quarter results above Wall Street forecasts.

Charles Schwab Corp.(SCHW) rose 2.9% after posting quarterly profit that topped expectations before the open.

Shares of Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI) dipped 0.6%, giving up an earlier gain that came following the company's deal to sell its enterprise business to Zebra Technologies Corp. (ZBRA) for $3.45 billion in cash. Zebra shares triggered a Nasdaq short-sale circuit breaker after falling more than 10%.

The iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF (IBB), which has been a poster child for the recent tech-led selloff in U.S. stocks, was last up 0.8% in recent trade after being down for most of the day.

On Monday, stocks ended with broad gains, as an unexpectedly strong rise in March retail sales and consensus-beating results from Citi lifted the trading mood.

In other financial markets on Tuesday, bourses closed mixed in Asia, with Hong Kong and Shanghai taking a hit from China's latest credit data. European stocks lost ground as investors worried about the Ukraine crisis. Oil (CLK4) and metals(GCM4) declined, pushed lower by a stronger dollar.

More from MarketWatch:

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