Glossary · Accounts & brokers

Swap (rollover)

Interest paid or earned for holding a position overnight. It reflects the interest-rate gap between the two currencies.

Swaps are usually tripled on Wednesday night to cover the weekend.

In practice

Holding a long position in a high-interest currency against a low-interest one usually earns a small daily swap, while the opposite trade pays it. Swaps are typically charged three times on Wednesday night to cover the weekend.

Common mistake

Forgetting about swap on multi-week trades, where the cost can add up to a meaningful share of the profit.

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