DBS Vickers website battles traffic surge during STI selloff

Stockbroking clients trying to login to trade faced long delays.

DBS Vickers' website was temporarily inaccessible this morning, as investors across the market pushed Singapore stock prices down this morning.

Clients trying to log in were greeted with words confirming that the website was experiencing heavy traffic and suggesting that they log in again later.

"We appreciate you're understanding and patience. We are experience heavy traffic on our site. You will be redirected shortly. Alternatively, you can try to log in again later," the site read after attempting to log in.

A company spokesperson said the error message was actually a holding page, with clients able to access the site after a short wait.

Meanwhile, clients calling the telephone line were able to get through after over 10 minutes, to execute trades through a broker.

DBS Vickers is the largest brokerage firm in Singapore, and customers who may want to sell shares to raise much needed cash are temporarily unable to.

This comes as markets across the globe experience one of the worst weeks in history. Canada recorded its worst one-day fall in 80 years as the S&P/TSX Composite Index plunged by 1,761.64 points or 12%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones ended  9.99% or 2,352.60 points lower at 1,200.62, the index's nastiest fall since the "Black Monday" market crash more than 30 years ago.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell more than 6% at Friday's open. The index was down 132.01 or 4.93% to 2,546.63 as of 11:38 AM, but has since rallied. It was down just 0.5% as of 4:15pm, with another hour of trade still to come.