Bloomberg terminal outage delays UK debt auction, leaves traders without live pricing data

An outage of Bloomberg terminals on Wednesday caused disruptions across global financial markets, halting trading activities, delaying government debt auctions, and frustrating traders who rely on the service for real-time data and analytics.

The incident began in the early hours of Wednesday morning, leaving users with little to no access to live pricing information on the Bloomberg terminal. 

Traders, analysts and portfolio managers who use the system, which costs around $28,000 annually per license, had to pull back on changing market positions. 

Traders paralyzed without data access

“We’ve been told not to trade. I can’t remember this level of non-functioning,” said a London-based fund manager, taken aback by the system’s breakdown. Another trader shared a similar sentiment, comparing the situation to “betting on a match that you can’t see or know the score.”

Bloomberg down? #Bloomberg #Terminal https://t.co/NQ3jXBKCSy pic.twitter.com/Id8BS8NKuA

— Fintones (@fintonesonX) May 21, 2025

For many market participants, the black and orange interfaced Bloomberg terminal is indispensable. It was founded 35 years ago by Michael Bloomberg and provides real-time market data, analytics, and a secure messaging system for financial professionals.

Bloomberg’s Instant Bloomberg (IB) messaging system was still operational during the outage, but the core functions related to pricing, analytics, and trading were either severely delayed or entirely inaccessible, according to user accounts.

Delayed auctions in the UK, Sweden, Portugal, and EU

Several sovereign debt auctions like the United Kingdom’s Debt Management Office (DMO) were forced to extend the bidding window for a scheduled auction of 4% 2031 gilts. 

“Due to the ongoing market-wide Bloomberg system issues, the bidding window for this morning’s auction is being extended,” the DMO said in a statement.

Similarly, the Swedish Debt Office delayed its scheduled bond auction due to “technical issues.” Although it was not officially confirmed that Bloomberg’s malfunction was the cause, the Swedish office noted that bids are usually submitted via the Bloomberg auction system.

How are we meant to find out about what is happening at Bloomberg if we can't read about it on the Terminal….#bloombergdown

— Matthew Lynn (@mattlynnwriter) May 21, 2025

Portugal experienced a delay with a planned bill auction, while the European Union pushed back the deadline for a sale of EU bonds by one hour to 1300 CEST (1100 GMT).

At one major asset management firm, a portfolio manager noted that not only trading activities but also internal workflows were affected. 

Recovery underway, but frustrations persist

Bloomberg’s help desk acknowledged the issue at 9:55 AM local time, confirming the problem was worldwide. 

“We’re currently experiencing a global terminal issue, and our engineering team is actively working to identify and resolve the problem,” the company said. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and we truly appreciate your patience and understanding.”

By 10:15 AM UTC, some users began to see some services restored. Still, many reported that the terminal’s functionality was inconsistent, with noticeable lag in pricing data. 

One investor said terminals within the same institution were experiencing different levels of recovery, like the chat function, which made the outage even more baffling.

“Bloomberg terminal down = chaos mode for markets. No live data, no auctions… serious ripple effect,” an upset trader asserted on X.

The outage came just one day after US equity markets began to show signs of strain. On Tuesday, major indices pulled back from a recent rally. Investors are worried that easing trade tensions and inflation will not last.

Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell by 0.5% on Wednesday, its third consecutive daily drop and hitting a two-week low. A Group-of-Seven (G7) meeting is set to take place come June, and chatter around markets insinuates the Trump administration might push for a weaker US dollar.

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