What is swap in forex, and why is Wednesday triple?
Swap, or rollover, is the interest you pay or earn for holding a forex position past 17:00 New York time. It comes from the gap between the two currencies' interest rates, plus the broker's markup. Most forex pairs charge three nights on Wednesday to cover the weekend.
Close a trade before the end of the day and you never meet swap. Hold it overnight and a new figure appears on the position: a small charge, or now and then a small credit.
Hold for weeks and that figure can outgrow the spread many times over.
What swap is
A currency pair is two currencies with two interest rates. When you buy a pair you are, in effect, holding the first currency and borrowing the second. Swap settles the interest difference for each night you keep the position.
If the currency you hold earns more interest than the one you borrow, the difference can be paid to you. If it earns less, you are charged.
The broker adds a markup on both sides. That is why on many pairs both long and short positions are charged.
When swap is charged
Swap is applied at the daily rollover, 17:00 New York time. In UTC that is 21:00 while New York is on summer time and 22:00 in winter.
A position that is open at that moment pays or earns one night's swap. Open after the rollover and close before the next one, and there is no swap at all.
Timing decides it, not how long the trade lasts. A position held for two minutes across 17:00 New York time pays a full night, while one held for eight hours in the day pays nothing.
Why Wednesday counts three times
Spot forex settles two business days after the trade. A position rolled over on Wednesday settles on Friday plus the weekend, so it carries three days of interest at once. That is the triple swap.
In MT5 this sits in the symbol's Specification as swap rates: a multiplier for each weekday. For most forex pairs Wednesday is set to 3 and the other weekdays to 1.
Brokers can set another day for other instruments, such as metals, indices or crypto. Check the multiplier in the Specification rather than assuming Wednesday.
Hold a forex position from Monday to the next Monday and you pass five rollovers but pay seven nights: Monday 1, Tuesday 1, Wednesday 3, Thursday 1, Friday 1.
How to calculate swap
Many brokers publish swap in points per lot. The swap calculator uses this formula: swap per night = swap points × point size × contract size × lots.
Here is a worked example with illustrative rates. EUR/USD, swap long of -6.5 points, 1 lot, USD account:
- Point size: 0.00001.
- Contract size: 100,000.
- Per night: -6.5 × 0.00001 × 100,000 × 1 = -$6.50.
- Wednesday night: -$6.50 × 3 = -$19.50.
- A full week of seven nights: -$6.50 × 7 = -$45.50.
Compare that with the spread. On 29 October 2026, a 0.8 pip EUR/USD spread cost $8 per lot. One week of this illustrative swap costs more than five times that.
Swap is not always quoted in points. MT5 also supports swap as money in the base, margin or deposit currency, or as a percentage of the price. The Specification says which type a symbol uses.
Finding your broker's swap rates
In MT4 or MT5, right click the symbol in Market Watch, choose Specification, and read Swap long and Swap short. The rates change when interest rates or the broker's terms change, so check them before a long hold.
A negative number is a charge and a positive one is a credit. Long and short are usually different, and sometimes both are negative.
The swap calculator on this site reads broker swap rates from that same MT5 Specification, or takes rates you type in. It counts Wednesday three times for you.
Swap-free accounts
A swap-free account, often called an Islamic account, has no overnight interest. Both Exness and XM list swap-free as an option on their AutoFXRebate pages.
Brokers may replace swap with a fixed fee after a set number of nights, so read the conditions. Swap-free accounts exist mainly for traders who cannot pay or receive interest for religious reasons.
Swap and rebates
A forex rebate is paid per lot traded, not per night held. A position kept open for a month earns the same rebate as one closed after an hour, while its swap keeps adding up.
For long holds, swap often matters more than the spread. Put it into the cost of one trade before you decide how long to stay in.
Questions
What time is swap charged in forex?
At the daily rollover, 17:00 New York time. That is 21:00 UTC during New York summer time and 22:00 UTC in winter. Only positions open at that moment are charged or credited.
Why is swap triple on Wednesday?
Spot forex settles two business days later, so a position rolled on Wednesday settles across the weekend and carries three days of interest. Some instruments use another day, shown in the Specification.
Can swap be positive?
Yes, when you hold the currency with the higher interest rate and the gap is bigger than the broker's markup. Often the markup turns a small positive rate negative.
Do I pay swap if I close before rollover?
No. Swap only applies to positions open at the rollover moment, however long they were open before it.
Keep learning
Chapter 1How does commission per lot work in forex?Commission is a fixed fee per lot that raw and zero spread accounts charge on top of a thin spread. Brokers quote it per side, for opening or for closing, or per round turn, for both. To compare it with a spread, divide it by the pip value: $7 per lot on EUR/USD is 0.7 pip.
Chapter 1What is slippage in forex trading?Slippage is the difference between the price you expected and the price your order filled at. It happens when the market moves between your click and the execution, most often around news, the daily rollover and the weekly open. Market and stop orders can slip; limit orders fill at your price or better, but may not fill.
Chapter 1Standard vs Raw spread account: which costs less?A standard account charges everything through a wider spread. A raw or zero account shows a spread close to the market's own and adds a commission per lot. Neither is cheaper by default. Convert both to dollars per lot on your symbol, subtract any rebate, and the cheaper one becomes clear.
Chapter 1How much does one forex trade cost?The cost of one forex trade is the spread plus any commission plus any swap, each turned into money for your volume. Slippage can add to it and a rebate takes part of it back. A 0.5 lot EUR/USD trade at a 0.8 pip spread with no commission costs $4.00 before swap.
Chapter 1How do you compare trading costs between brokers fairly?To compare brokers fairly, use the same symbol, the same time window and the typical (median) spread, not the advertised minimum. Add commission, turn everything into dollars per lot, and include swap if you hold overnight. Then subtract any rebate to see the net cost you actually pay.
Chapter 1Trading costs cheat sheet.Every forex trade pays some mix of spread, commission and swap, and can lose a little more to slippage. A rebate gives part of it back. This page puts the formulas, a table of measured spreads and one worked example in one place, with a link to the full lesson on each cost.
