Fidelity and Charles Schwab say some users ran into technical issues in early trading as stocks tanked the most since August

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

A sign marks a Fidelity Investments office in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. September 21, 2016. To match Special Report USA-FIDELITY/FAMILY

• Fidelity and Charles Schwab apologized to clients Monday morning after technical issues kept users from executing trades during the worst market slump in months.
• Users took to Twitter with complaints about login errors, their accounts incorrectly showing a $0.00 balance, and delays in filling orders.
• Monday's open saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average sink nearly 1,000 points as a spike in coronavirus cases outside of China ratcheted up fears of a slowdown in global growth.
• Schwab, which announced its acquisition of brokerage TD Ameritrade in November, attributed the problems to "higher-than-usual volumes."
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

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Fidelity and Charles Schwab apologized to clients on Monday after technical issues marred the platforms in early trading.

Users were unable to quickly execute trades as US stocks tumbled the most since August, according to numerous Twitter posts. Monday's open saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummet nearly 1,000 points as new coronavirus deaths in Iran, Italy, and South Korea intensified worries of the outbreak dragging on the global economy.

Brokerage clients complained about login errors, delays in filling orders, and accounts incorrectly showing a $0.00 balance. Fidelity and Charles Schwab, which announced its acquisition of brokerage TD Ameritrade in November, both said the errors were resolved roughly one hour after the market opened.

"This is total insanity @Fidelity. If you can't handle the volume on a day like today, what good is the platform?" user @robwilsontv tweeted Monday morning.

CNBC first reported on the brokerage issues.

"Due to higher-than-usual volumes, some clients may have experienced delays in accessing some online features as the market opened but our systems are fine and up and running," Schwab told Business Insider.

Fidelity said some of its clients experienced "technical issues" in early trading.

Fidelity manages about $7.8 trillion in client assets. Schwab has about $5.1 trillion in assets under management, including those acquired from its purchase of TD Ameritrade.

Monday's market slump arrives as the surging number of coronavirus cases gripped investors around the world. Stocks fell through late January on initial reports of the outbreak before resuming their climb to record highs. The latest tumble may be the first step in a prolonged correction that drags on stocks for months to come, some strategists said Monday. Others view the plunge as a buying opportunity before markets resume their record-long bull run.

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