Stocks Ended Lower as Health-care Sector Sank

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow industrials finished at their lowest levels since early August, as the health-care sector slumped amid a public debate over pharmaceutical companies’ pricing practices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 65.82 points, or 0.35%, to 18,481.48. The S&P 500 slid 11.46 points, or 0.52%, to 2,175.44. The Nasdaq Composite fell 42.38 points, or 0.81%, to 5,217.69.

The slump in Mylan nudged the health-care sector lower and weighed on the exchange-traded iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF IBB, -3.36% which was down 3.4%.

U.S. home resales fell more than expected in July after four straight months of strong gains, as a lack of inventory limited choice for buyers, but further price rises suggested the housing market remained on solid ground. Existing home sales declined 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.39 million units last month, the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday said.

The European Commission is expected to levy a judgment against Apple in the next few months that could total in the billions of euros. JPMorgan has estimated that Apple could be on the hook for as much as $19 billion (or about 17 billion euro), the Financial Times reports.

HP Inc. on Wednesday reported a drop in profit for the third quarter hurt largely by a 4 percent drop in revenues as the company continues to struggle with weak demand for printers. HP’s third-quarter profit dropped to $783 million or $0.45 per share from $854 million or $0.47 per share last year. Revenues for the quarter dropped 4 percent to $11.89 billion from $12.36 billion last year.