Dow Jones Industrial Average Snaps Back With Crude, Banks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is maintaining its triple-digit lead at midday, though the index is still far from finishing the week in the black. Oil prices are a major driver today, with March crude futures last seen up 3% at $29.18 a barrel, as traders digest reports that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could take action to reduce output. In addition, bank stocks are bouncing back, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) leading Dow components higher. Meanwhile, traders are digesting a six-year high in business inventories, a bigger-than-expected uptick in retail sales, and New York Fed President William Dudley's reassurances about the health of the U.S. economy. 

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

• Does the Dow's recent losing streak suggest now's the time to buy?
• The big vote of confidence for this mobile payments company.
• Plus ... Checking in on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and other noteworthy stats at midday.

Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC) is among stocks with unusual option volume at midday, with contracts changing hands at 14 times their typical intraday pace. Calls are outnumbering puts by a staggering margin, with 22,000 KGC calls traded, to just 207 puts so far. More than 16,500 March 3.50 calls have been traded -- and mostly bought to open -- indicating traders are expecting the security to climb over $3.50 (a level not seen in more than a year) by the option's expiration next month. KGC was last seen up 0.3% at $2.91, after yesterday hitting an annual high of $3.08 on strong earnings and surging gold prices.

Among the top performers on the Nasdaq today is Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), last seen up 24.6% at $2.79, after last night's earnings beat. The stock is coming off of a year-long slump, and could stand to benefit from a short-covering rally, should bears abandon their positions in the wake of today's surge.

Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR) is among the Nasdaq's biggest laggards, after the company gave disappointing guidance, prompting at least eight analysts to cut their price targets. The shares are 10.3% lower at $32.97 -- just off a new annual low of $31.50 -- which could have CYBR call buyers heading for the exits.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is down 2.2 points, or 7.8%, at 25.96.

Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.03, with puts and calls crossing the tape at nearly even volumes. SPY was last seen 2 points, or 1.1%, higher at 184.99.