Stocks are sharply lower at midday, in what is shaping up to be another volatile day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is 988 points lower, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are extending this morning's losses as well, due to an escalating selloff that erased yesterday's Fed-induced rally.

Big Tech in particular is under pressure, with Amazon.com (AMZN) leading sector losses, as the 10-year Treasury yield moved above 3% to its highest level since 2018. Also weighing on sentiment is disappointing jobs data, with labor productivity logging its sharpest quarterly drop since 1947.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq: ICPT) is seeing an influx of options activity today. Amid low absolute volume, 2,595 calls and 569 puts have crossed the tape so far, or five times the average intraday amount. Most popular by far is the September 17.50 call, followed by the May 20 call. The security is up 20.1% at $19.44 at last check, after the company entered a $405 million agreement with Advanz Pharma, which allows the company to sell some of its foreign subsidiaries and rights to international operations. The shares earlier surged to their highest level since November, overcoming pressure at the 20-day moving average. In the last three months, ICPT has added 29.3%.

Near the top of the New York Stock Exchange's (NYSE) today is EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE: EPAM). The security is up 9.7% to trade at $343.77, after the company posted a first-quarter earnings and revenue beat, and issued an upbeat current-quarter revenue outlook. Now trading at their highest level since late February, the shares have support from the 40-day moving average. Plus, EPAM is currently eyeing its fourth-straight daily win and has added 14.6% already this quarter.

Cloud name Fastly Inc (NYSE: FSLY) is among the worst stocks on the NYSE, however, last seen down 18% to trade at $13.82. The company's first-quarter losses were wider than anticipated by 1 cent, while revenue came in above analysts' estimates at a record $102.4 million. Still, gross margins fell sharply, and the company announced the search for a CEO. The security is slipping further below its 20-day moving average, though the $13 level looks ready to contain these losses, as it did back in March. Year-to-date, FSLY is down 60.9%.