Rollover

What is rollover?

Rollover is the daily process by which an open position is carried over from one trading day to the next instead of being closed. Every broker sets a specific rollover time — commonly around 5:00 pm US Eastern Time for forex, aligning with the close of the New York session and the start of a new trading day in the platform’s internal clock — at which any position still open is automatically rolled to the next value date.

Crossing that cut-off is what triggers the swap: the interest charge or credit applied for holding the position overnight, based on the rate differential between the two currencies in the pair (or the financing rate for other leveraged instruments).

Why rollover exists

Rollover exists because most spot forex trades are conceptually settled two business days after they’re opened (a convention called T+2 in traditional currency markets). If a trader doesn’t actually take delivery of the currency and instead keeps the position open indefinitely, the broker rolls the settlement date forward one more day, every day, and charges or credits the overnight financing that this implies. The same underlying idea applies to CFDs on other assets, where rollover reflects the cost of maintaining leveraged exposure past the trading day.

Rollover and the weekend

Because financial markets are closed on Saturday and Sunday, positions held over a weekend are typically charged (or credited) three days of rollover in a single overnight swap — one for each of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday value dates rolling together. This is often referred to informally as “triple swap,” and different brokers apply it on different days of the week depending on their settlement conventions, so it’s important to check a broker’s specific rollover schedule rather than assume a universal rule.

Why rollover matters

Understanding rollover timing matters most for traders who hold positions overnight or over weekends, since it directly determines when swap is applied and how much accumulates on longer-term trades. Day traders who close every position before the daily cut-off avoid rollover and swap entirely. Traders who prefer not to pay or receive interest for religious reasons can typically request an Islamic account, which removes standard swap and may apply a flat administrative fee instead.

Quick recap

• Rollover is the daily cut-off point at which an open position carries into the next trading day.
• Crossing rollover triggers the swap charge or credit.
• Weekend rollovers commonly apply three days’ worth of swap in one charge.
• Closing positions before rollover avoids swap entirely; day traders rarely need to think about it.