What the swap is
The swap (or rollover) is the adjustment applied to a position held open from one trading day to the next. In forex it fundamentally reflects the interest-rate differential between the pair's two currencies: holding the higher-rate currency long tends to generate positive swap, and vice versa. A broker adjustment is added to the differential and is included in the published per-instrument value.
Why it can be positive or negative
It depends on your position's direction and the prevailing rate differential. The same pair can cost you swap long and pay it short — or charge in both directions when the adjustment exceeds the differential. In indices, commodities and crypto, the swap reflects the underlying's financing cost and is usually negative both ways.
The Wednesday triple swap
Forex trades settle two business days out (T+2). To account for the weekend — when the market is closed but financing keeps running — one day of the week applies triple swap. In forex that is usually Wednesday; for other instruments it can vary with the settlement calendar. If you hold large positions, that day weighs three times as much on your statement.
Where to see the exact swap in MT5
- Open Market Watch and right-click the symbol → Specification.
- Find the Swap long and Swap short fields — expressed in points or as a percentage depending on the instrument.
- Also check the triple-swap day field for that symbol.
- The swap applied to each position is itemised in your account history tab.
Which strategies care most
Intraday: barely at all — close before rollover and no swap is paid. Swing and position trading: a lot — days or weeks of negative swap can consume a meaningful share of the expected profit, or turn a marginally winning trade into a loser. And carry trading inverts it: it aims precisely to collect the differential by holding positive-swap positions, accepting price risk in exchange.