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What is a swap and how is it charged?

Overnight financing explained

A
Written by Alex Nicholas

Swaps apply to both the Standard account and the Raw account.

  • Swap rates are set per instrument, in points. They can be positive (you receive) or negative (you pay).

  • The rate depends on whether you bought or sold.

  • Swaps are charged at the daily rollover, when you hold a position from one trading day into the next.

  • One rollover a week counts as three nights, to cover the weekend: Wednesday for forex and metals, and Friday for indices and commodities.

To see live swap rates in MT5:

  1. Open Market Watch.

  2. Right-click the instrument.

  3. Choose Specification.

Example on EUR/USD, where 1 point is worth $1 per lot: buy 1 lot and hold it for 3 nights at a rate of −7.00. The swap is −7.00 × $1 × 1 × 3 = −$21.00, which you pay. The rate in this example is illustrative.

You don't need to work out the swap yourself. MT5 shows the swap charged on each open position in the Swap column of the Trade tab.

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