May 8, 2025 – New York — Thousands of Fidelity Investments customers were unable to access their accounts on Thursday as the
brokerage’s platform experienced a widespread outage during one of the most
active stock market rallies in recent weeks.
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| Image source: Barron’s |
According to reports from Barron’s, TradingView, and MSN,
users began experiencing log-in failures and trading restrictions early
Thursday morning, just as U.S. equity markets surged following the Federal
Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady. Frustrated customers flooded
social media with complaints about being locked out of their accounts and
missing opportunities to buy or sell during key market moves.
The disruption occurred at a critical moment when
stocks were rising sharply — with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and
tech-heavy indexes posting strong gains, driven by easing inflation concerns
and upbeat economic data.
“This is unacceptable. I couldn’t close my trade and
missed my target,” one Fidelity customer wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Fidelity has yet to issue a detailed statement
explaining the cause of the outage. A brief advisory on its website
acknowledged “intermittent technical issues” and promised updates as the team
worked to restore full functionality.
This incident adds to a growing list of brokerage
platform disruptions during periods of heightened market activity, raising
fresh concerns about the resilience of trading infrastructure and real-time
access to retail brokerage services.
The outage may draw regulatory scrutiny, especially if
clients can demonstrate material losses as a result of blocked access to their
accounts during an active trading session.
More updates to follow as the story
develops.
Market rally that could have triggered the surge in trading activity
Markets Surge After Fed Holds Rates Steady – May 8, 2025
U.S. equities rallied sharply on Wednesday and into
Thursday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged, as widely
expected, but signalled greater confidence that inflation pressures are easing.
The decision reassured investors that the Fed is unlikely to hike again in the
near term.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, extending
gains after a string of mixed sessions.
- The Nasdaq Composite climbed over 1%, buoyed by strong
rebounds in tech stocks.
- Nvidia surged 3.1% after reports the Trump
administration may roll back AI chip export restrictions.
- Apple slipped 1.1%, underperforming amid weaker search
traffic data tied to Google on Apple products.
Meanwhile, oil prices ticked higher, gold slipped, and
the U.S. dollar showed mixed performance in the forex markets.
The rally was seen as a relief rebound, driven by receding inflation concerns, stable rate expectations, and optimism around U.S. economic resilience heading into the second half of 2025.
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