diff --git a/services/trading/engine.py b/services/trading/engine.py
index fc47f59..3901337 100644
--- a/services/trading/engine.py
+++ b/services/trading/engine.py
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ class TradingEngine:
             asyncio.create_task(self._performance_loop(), name="performance_loop"),
             asyncio.create_task(self._risk_tier_scheduler(), name="risk_tier_scheduler"),
             asyncio.create_task(self._rebalance_scheduler(), name="rebalance_scheduler"),
+            asyncio.create_task(self._correlation_startup(), name="correlation_startup"),
         ]
         logger.info("Trading engine started with %d worker tasks", len(self._tasks))
 
@@ -598,8 +599,9 @@ class TradingEngine:
             initial_capital, invested, available, reserve_balance, open_count,
         )
 
-        # Compute initial correlation matrix from market data
-        await self._compute_correlation_matrix()
+        # Compute initial correlation matrix from market data (non-blocking)
+        # Launched as a background task in start() to avoid blocking uvicorn startup
+        self._pending_corr_task = True
 
     async def _decision_loop(self) -> None:
         """Poll recommendations and evaluate them in a continuous loop.
@@ -1340,6 +1342,13 @@ class TradingEngine:
     # Correlation matrix computation
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+    async def _correlation_startup(self) -> None:
+        """Compute correlation matrix in background so uvicorn can start serving."""
+        try:
+            await self._compute_correlation_matrix()
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Background correlation matrix computation failed")
+
     async def _compute_correlation_matrix(self) -> None:
         """Compute pairwise price correlations from market_snapshots and load into self.correlation_matrix.