US. stocks traded lower in the afternoon as claims about ‘fraud’ at Valeant Pharmaceuticals put pressure on the equities market.
The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Index (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was volatile and up five points at 17,222.
The tech heavy Nasdsaq (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) lost 0.5% to 4,857 and the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) lost 0.3% to 2,024.
Valeant (NYSE:VRX) skidded as much as 40% after short-selling firm Citron Research claimed that the Canadian drug company is shipping products to its own unit and then falsely claiming the revenue. Valeant has categorically rejected the short-seller allegations.
Away from results, perhaps one of the most profile stories came from sports car firm Ferrari (NYSE:RACE), whose shares got off to a racing start when it debuted in New York.
Shares were priced at US$52 per share at the IPO but rose over 15% at the open to US$60 and were trading up 8% ahead of the closing.
Social media tech giant Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) eased 4.8% as heavyweight broker Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to the equivalent of a 'sell'.
The broker can't see how Twitter can be expected to double its revenue base through 2017, as consensus analyst estimates suggest, as monthly active user growth is decelerating.
Among the biggest gainers was Tupperware Brands Corp (NYSE:TUP), which added over 8% to US$59.63 as it beat Q3 Street forecasts.
The Florida-based kitchenware company said it had profit of 72 US cents a share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 79 cents per share.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) shares rose 6.8% to US$35.76 each as it posted record quarterly earnings before charges for the third quarter.
Strong demand for trucks in North America and improved profit margins in China helped make up for declining revenues.
Elsewhere, drugs group Biogen (NYSE:BIIB) saw shares rise over 2% after reporting expectation-beating third quarter earnings and the group also plans for a reduction in its global workforce.
The firm posted an 11% in revenues to US$2.8bn and net income of US$965 million, up from $856 million a year earlier.