Guide

Swap in Forex: what holding a position overnight costs

In Forex, a position opened in the evening and still open the next day costs, or earns, a small amount: the swap. It often goes unnoticed because it is small each night. But it adds up when positions stay open for several days. This guide explains it in plain words, with a worked example.

Where the swap comes from

Buying a currency pair means buying the first currency and selling the second. Each currency has its own interest rate, based on that of its central bank.

If the currency bought has a higher rate than the currency sold, the position can earn interest each night. Otherwise, it costs interest. The broker adds its margin: that is why the swap is often negative both ways, when buying and when selling.

When it is charged

The swap is charged once a day, at the close of the market day (around midnight, broker server time). A position opened and closed on the same day pays none.

Wednesday counts triple with most brokers: it also covers Saturday and Sunday, when the market is closed. A full week therefore counts 7 swaps.

A worked example

Here are the swaps shown by Vantage on 19 October 2026 for a position of 0.1 lot. They are in Canadian dollars, the second currency of both pairs.

Swaps shown by Vantage on 19/10/2026. They change with interest rates.
Pair and direction	1 night	1 week (7 swaps)	1 month (about 30)
AUDCAD buy	+CA$0.42	+CA$2.95	about +CA$12.70
AUDCAD sell	−CA$0.95	−CA$6.62	about −CA$28.40
NZDCAD buy	−CA$0.04	−CA$0.31	about −CA$1.30
NZDCAD sell	−CA$0.35	−CA$2.45	about −CA$10.50

Two things stand out. When buying AUDCAD, the swap is positive: the position earns a little each night. And the same lot does not cost the same depending on the pair and the direction: selling AUDCAD costs more than twice what buying it earns.

Why it changes

The swap follows interest rates. When a central bank raises or cuts its rates, the swaps of the pairs concerned change. The broker can also change its margin. A swap that is positive today can turn negative later.

The exact amount is shown by the broker, usually in the details of each instrument.

Key points

The swap only applies to positions held past the close of the day.
It is small per night, but it adds up with time and with the number of positions.
A result shown without swaps can look better than it is. It is better to compare results “net of swaps”.

And at PlanetFinance?

The strategy trades AUDCAD and NZDCAD with a grid: a basket of positions can stay open for several days, or even several weeks when the market moves in the same direction for a long time. Swaps are therefore part of its cost.

Over the strategy's history, they amounted to about 5% of trading profits in 2023, 3% in 2024, 5% in 2025 and 9% in 2026 (year to date). Of the trades held overnight, about one in four received a positive swap rather than paying one.

The performance published on the site is net of broker fees and swaps (see How figures are calculated). On your copy account, swaps are counted the same way, on the size of your own positions.