Market-wide circuit breakers

What are market-wide circuit breakers?

The securities markets have circuit breakers that temporarily halt trading in all securities in the event of a severe market decline. In the event of a decrease in the S&P 500® Index at pre defined circuit breaker levels, securities will be temporarily halted at each circuit breaker level once per day.

Circuit breaker level S&P 500 Index decline percentage Market impact
1 7% 15-minute trading halt*
2 13% 15-minute trading halt*
3 20% Trading halted for all securities until the next trading day

*Note: Level 1 and 2 circuit breakers do not halt trading after 3:25 PM ET.

Fidelity routes your stock orders to various market centers/exchanges, which may differ in the way they will be handling orders while a market-wide circuit breaker is in effect. Fidelity will continue to communicate the status of any open trades via the Orders page of your portfolio. However, due to market/security volatility, the status of your order may be delayed.

What would happen to my Day order if I entered it during a Level 3 market-wide circuit breaker halt?

In the event the S&P 500 index declines by 20% and triggers the Level 3 circuit breaker, security trading will be halted for the remainder of the day and all Day orders including Market orders, Limit orders, Stop Loss/Limit orders, and Trailing Stop orders will be statused beginning at 4 PM ET. Day orders entered prior to 4 PM ET will not be held overnight for the next trading day. Please check the Orders page of your portfolio to confirm the status of your order(s).

Can I trade in the after-hours session after the regular session ends in a Level 3 circuit breaker halt?

After-hours session trading is not available when the regular trading session ends in a Level 3 circuit breaker halt. However, you are allowed to enter an order for the next day’s regular trading session.

If a Level 3 market-wide circuit breaker halt occurs, how will it impact my mutual fund holdings?

At this time, we anticipate that retail funds will be priced based on the time of day of the Level 3 trading halt market close. Money market funds, however, may be open for business on those days on which the New York Fed is open, the primary trading markets for the fund's portfolio instruments are open, and the fund's management believes there is an adequate market to meet purchase and redemption requests. For additional details please refer to the most current prospectus.