Global political concerns sent the markets into a tailspin during the midday with the Dow collapsing 219 points to 16,823. Nasdaq plummeted 68 points to 4,424.

On the upside

Shares of Entegra Financial (Nasdaq: ENFC) soared on its first trading day.

Portola Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PTLA) reported positive results from a Phase 3 study of andexanet alfa as an anticoagulation for Factor Xa inhibitor patients. 

Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations.

On the downside

Automated Data Processing (Nasdaq: ADP) completed the spinoff of its Dealer Services business into an independent publicly traded company, CDK Global (Nasdaq: CDK).

Profit taking weighed down shares of Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (Nasdaq: CPRX).

Puerto Rico Superior Court Judge Laureana Perez said not to expect a ruling on the $229 million tax dispute between Doral Financial (NYSE: DRL) and the government of Puerto Rico until after October 8, 2014.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 plunged 23 points to 1948. Bitcoin slipped $4 to $380.