Rollover meaning in plain words
A forex trade is a position in a currency pair. You buy one currency and sell the other at the same time. Each currency carries its own interest rate.
If your position is still open at the end of the trading day, it is rolled over to the next day. This is the rollover. When it happens, the broker charges or pays an interest adjustment called swap, also known as the rollover fee.
If you open and close a trade within the same day, before the cutoff, no rollover happens and no swap is booked.
Forex rollover time
Rollover happens once per trading day at a fixed moment, often called the server cutoff or end of day. Each broker sets this moment by its trading server clock. That clock may differ from Pakistan time, so the cutoff may fall at an unusual local hour.
To find it:
- Check the swap or trading conditions section of your broker's official site.
- Compare the server time shown in MetaTrader's Market Watch with your local time.
- See our pages on trading sessions and weekends and holidays. Holiday schedules can move or add rollovers.
How swap is booked
At the cutoff, the platform calculates swap for each open position and adds it to or subtracts it from the position. The amount depends on:
- Direction. Long and short positions on the same pair usually have different swap values. See long and short.
- Position size in lots. See what is a lot.
- The instrument's swap rates, which the broker sets. They reflect the interest rate gap between the two currencies plus the broker's markup.
- The number of days charged. One weekday covers the weekend, so it books extra days of swap. See triple swap day.
Swap can be positive (a credit) or negative (a charge). On many pairs both directions are negative because of the markup. In MetaTrader, the booked amount appears in the Swap column of the open position. It changes your equity right away, even before you close the trade.
To get a figure for your own trade, enter the pair, direction, lot size and the broker's swap rate in the swap calculator on our calculators page. Our swap fees page explains the inputs. If you use Exness, check the current swap values in the Exness personal area or on the official site.
Spread widening at rollover
Around the cutoff, many liquidity providers close their books for the day and fewer quotes reach the market. Liquidity drops, and the spread between bid and ask often widens, sometimes sharply. This usually lasts a short time and then returns to normal.
This matters for experienced traders too:
- A wider spread can trigger a stop loss or pending order even if the mid-price barely moved, because sell stops trigger on the bid and buy stops on the ask.
- Orders sent near the cutoff may meet slippage.
- On a heavily leveraged account, the spread widening plus a negative swap can lower your margin level towards a stop out.
Precise definitions
- Rollover: extending an open position past the trading day's cutoff to the next value date.
- Swap / rollover fee: the interest adjustment for that extension, set by the broker per instrument and direction.
- Server cutoff: the moment on the broker's server clock when rollover is processed.
- Swap-free account: an account type without standard swap, often linked to Islamic finance. Other fees may replace swap, so read the terms.
Risk note
Leveraged forex and CFD trading can lose money fast. Holding positions over many days adds swap costs on top of spreads and commissions. Practise on a demo account before risking real money.
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Frequent questions
Is the rollover fee charged if I close before the cutoff?
No. Swap is booked only on positions still open at the moment of rollover.
Why is my swap negative in both directions?
The broker adds a markup to the interest rate gap. On many pairs this makes both long and short swap a charge.
Does rollover happen at the same time for every broker?
No. Each broker sets the cutoff by its server time. Check the broker's official conditions.
Can I avoid spread widening at rollover?
You cannot change market liquidity. Some traders avoid placing or adjusting orders near the cutoff and leave wider room for stops.
Where can I calculate my swap?
Use the swap calculator on the calculators page with your pair, direction, lot size and the broker's swap rate.