Dow Jones Industrial Average Gives Up Gains as Oil Slides

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up more than 185 points at its session peak, but has erased most of its early gains -- and briefly turned lower -- as crude oil looks to extend its losing streak. March-dated oil lost its early momentum, and was last seen off 0.6% at $27.76 a barrel. Traders are also focusing on comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who began her testimony before Congress by acknowledging that financial conditions "have become less supportive to growth," but reiterated that "monetary policy is by no means on a preset course." 

Continue reading for more on today's market -- and don't miss:

• 3 solar stocks getting iced.
• What's behind the long-awaited Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) bounce?
• Plus ... Checking in on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and other noteworthy stats at midday.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) is among stocks with unusual option volume at midday, with contracts crossing the tape at nine times their typical intraday rate. Calls are the option of choice, with more than 7,000 trading hands so far -- a notable change of pace for the generally bearish options crowd heading into this morning's quarterly earnings report. Strong financial results have AKAM trading 23.8% higher at $48.98, paring its year-to-date losses to 6.9%. 

Among the top performers on the Big Board today is Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT). After a tough start to the year, in which the stock gave up about half of its value, FIT is finally on the rebound today, trading 7.5% higher at $15.37. Vanguard Group and Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff reported passive stakes in the company, propelling the shares higher, to the delight of the bullish brokerage crowd.

CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC) is among the worst performers on the Nasdaq today, shedding 40% to trade at $0.30 -- fresh off an all-time low of $0.25 -- on news that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted its investigational trial of an experimental blood cancer treatment. CTIC has been a serious underperformer in recent months, and short sellers are likely cheering today's drastic drop.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is down 0.9 points, or 3.3%, at 25.67.

Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.49, with puts easily outnumbering calls. SPY was last seen 1 point, or 0.6%, higher at $186.45.