More scandal's 'a brewin' in the pharmaceutical industry today which sent the stock of the alleged offender Valeant Pharmaceuticals crashing down along with the rest of the healthcare sector.  Crude oil also took another dive sending the entire energy sector down yet another percentage point today, again mostly due to grossly excess inventories.  The tumult caused big chaos again with the Dow swinging in a 160 point range throughout the session but ending 48 points down.  The good news came from General Motors, Boeing, and eBay all reporting better than expected results for Q3.  Volume was modestly below average at 6.8 billion.

Markets | Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:34pm EDT

Wall St. declines; Valeant, healthcare weigh

BY CAROLINE VALETKEVITCH

DJ:  17,168.61  -48.50       NAS: 4,840.12  -40.86         S&P:  2,018.94  -11.83

REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as a sharp drop in Valeant Pharmaceuticals hit the healthcare space, while the energy sector dropped along with oil prices.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals' (VRX.N) U.S.-listed shares plunged to an intraday low of $88.50 on record volume after a short-seller accused the company of using specialty pharmacies to inflate its revenue.

The company denied the allegation, and later investor Bill Ackman said he increased his Valeant stake by about 2 million shares. The stock pared losses to end down 19.2 percent at $118.61, still its lowest level since October 2014. It lost about $9.6 billion in market capitalization.

The news also dragged down shares of other healthcare names including Allergan (AGN.N), down 1.7 percent at $259, and Endo International (ENDP.O), down 13.3 percent at $54.46, though both companies tried to ease concerns about their use of specialty pharmacies.

Also in the healthcare space, insurers Aetna (AET.N), Humana (HUM.N), Anthem (ANTM.N) and Cigna (CI.N) all fell at least 3 percent after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she had "serious concerns" about the mergers the companies were proposing.

A drop in crude oil prices weighed on the S&P 500 energy sector .SPNY, which fell 1 percent. That led sector declines for the S&P 500, followed by materials .SPLRCM, down 0.9 percent, and S&P health care .SPXHC, also down 0.9 percent.

"Oil inventories were up quite a bit, so energy was down and that weighed down the market early. Going into the afternoon, the buyers were just lined up to watch as we drifted lower into the close," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 48.5 points, or 0.28 percent, to 17,168.61, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 11.83 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,018.94 and the Nasdaq Composite.IXIC dropped 40.86 points, or 0.84 percent, to 4,840.12.

Adding to the negative tone, Yahoo (YHOO.O) shares fell 5.2 percent to $31.12, a day after the Internet company's quarterly earnings and profit missed expectations.

On the plus side, shares of General Motors (GM.N) rose 5.8 percent to $35.42, while Boeing (BA.N) rose 1.7 percent to $141.19, after both industry heavyweights reported better-than-expected results.

Ferrari (RACE.N) was up 5.8 percent at $55 in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Stocks have mostly gained this month following a sharp selloff in the third quarter. The S&P 500 is up more than 5 percent for the month so far.

After the bell, shares of eBay (EBAY.O) rose 8.4 percent to $26.25 following its results, while shares of Community Health Systems (CYH.N) dropped 15.3 percent to $34.35 after a disappointing outlook. Other hospital operator shares also fell after the bell.

During the session, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,173 to 888, for a 2.45-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,066 issues fell and 717 advanced for a 2.88-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and five new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 52 new highs and 82 new lows.

About 6.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, compared with the 7.3 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.