Fidelity glitches lock users out of US-China tariff relief rally

A sharp rally in US equities Monday morning was met with frustration by some Fidelity brokerage customers who reported being unable to log into their accounts amid a surge in trading volume.

According to reports from Downdetector, a website that monitors service interruptions, thousands of users submitted complaints about access problems with Fidelity’s online platforms shortly after the opening bell.

The disruption coincided with a market rally triggered by signs of easing trade tensions between the US and China. The two superpowers reportedly made "substantial progress" over two days of talks in Switzerland, with representatives from both sides striking a constructive tone to reporters covering the discussions onsite.

Fidelity acknowledged the issues in a post on Reddit, saying some customers were encountering difficulties with its website, active trader platform, and mobile applications.

“We are working urgently on resolving the issues,” the company wrote Monday. “We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate you being a customer.”

Fidelity, one of the largest wealth management and brokerage providers in the country, oversees $15 trillion in assets under administration and serves millions of retail investors.

The log-in problems came as the S&P 500 rose 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 3.4 percent by late Monday morning, fueled by optimism over the weekend’s partial tariff truce. By 3 PM Eastern Time, the S&P had gained 3 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced to 4 percent.

Industry observers noted the timing of the disruption raised concerns over Fidelity’s ability to manage high-traffic trading days.

“The volume today is the highest at this point in the day out of any trading so far in May,” Steve Sosnick, chief market strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Reuters during the morning session.

While no widespread outage was confirmed by Fidelity on Monday, the pattern of reported issues echoes a recurring pain point for online brokerage clients.

Last August, Fidelity and Charles Schwab customers faced similar disruptions during a steep market downturn. At that time, retail investors also took to social media, venting their frustrations as they were unable to execute trades amid a volatile session triggered by a triple dose of weak economic data.

"What's scaring people more than the fact that the market is selling off is that Fidelity's and Schwab's trading platforms crashed today," Jason Britton, president and chief investment officer at Reflection Asset Management, told Reuters at the time. "Those are the things that cause real panic - when people can't see what their portfolios are doing."

To some, the latest hiccup may also call up memories of severe failures that led to regulatory action.

In 2023, Robinhood agreed to a $10.2 million settlement with state regulators stemming from operational lapses and outages in 2020. State authorities cited the firm’s failure to maintain robust systems and procedures to prevent harm to investors during critical trading windows.