The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 13,315.37) is down 11 points, or 0.1%, despite the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rising to 83.1 in a preliminary reading for October -- surpassing Wall Street's expectations, and notching a five-year high. Elsewhere, the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 15.97) is 0.4 point, or 2.4%, higher.

Here are a few noteworthy stats at midday:

1. The equity put/call volume ratio across all 10 options exchanges sits at 0.96, with 3.0 million calls exchanged so far today, versus 2.9 million puts.
   
   
2. Among the equities with call-heavy activity is IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX - 21.99), which has added about 2% today. Currently, calls make up 98.5% of the security's intraday option volume.
   
   
3. The put/call volume ratio on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSEARCA:VXX - 35.20) checks in at 0.84, with calls outnumbering puts.
   
   
4. The Nasdaq shows an advance/decline ratio of 0.51, signaling that the number of downward movers almost doubles the advancers.
   
   
5. Among the Nasdaq's major decliners is Infosys Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:INFY - 43.44), which has shed around 10% in intraday action after reporting weaker-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings post-close yesterday. The outsourcing-services company also noted the challenge of increased global economic uncertainties.