Costs, Spreads & FeesDaily RolloverValue Date Roll
Rollover
The daily process of moving an open position's settlement date forward, which generates the swap charge or credit.
What Rollover means
Spot forex nominally settles two business days after the trade date, which for a retail trader who never intends to take delivery would mean an obligation to exchange the full notional amount. Rollover is the mechanism that avoids this: at the daily cut-off the broker closes the position for the old value date and simultaneously reopens it for the next one, using a tom-next swap. The trader's position appears untouched, and the only visible consequence is the interest adjustment applied to the account.
The cut-off for spot forex is 5pm New York time, which marks the end of the trading day and the boundary between value dates. Only positions open at that instant are rolled; a trade opened and closed within the same session never rolls and never incurs swap. Because weekends are not settlement days, the Wednesday evening roll pushes the value date from Friday to Monday and carries three days of interest, the familiar triple swap.
Rollover also affects things other than interest. Spreads frequently widen for a few minutes around the cut-off as liquidity providers refresh their books, which can trigger stops that the prevailing mid-price never approached, and some brokers briefly suspend or restrict trading through the changeover. Bank holidays in either currency's home market shift value dates and can move the triple charge to an unusual day, so the broker's swap calendar is worth checking before holding size across a holiday.
Worked example
A position left open at 5pm New York on Wednesday has its value date rolled from Friday to the following Monday, so three days of swap are applied in a single adjustment that night.
Related terms
- SwapThe interest credited or debited for holding a forex position overnight, based on the two currencies' rate differential.
- Tom-NextA one-day forex swap rolling a position's value date from tomorrow to the next business day, the basis of daily rollover.
- Spot MarketThe market for immediate delivery of currency, with spot FX trades conventionally settling two business days after the trade date.
- Spread WideningA temporary expansion of the bid-ask spread caused by reduced liquidity or elevated volatility.
- Overnight FinancingThe daily cost of carrying a leveraged position, applied to CFDs on indices, shares and commodities as well as forex.
Frequently asked questions
What does Rollover mean in forex trading?
The daily process of moving an open position's settlement date forward, which generates the swap charge or credit.
How does Rollover work in practice?
The cut-off for spot forex is 5pm New York time, which marks the end of the trading day and the boundary between value dates. Only positions open at that instant are rolled; a trade opened and closed within the same session never rolls and never incurs swap. Because weekends are not settlement days, the Wednesday evening roll pushes the value date from Friday to Monday and carries three days of interest, the familiar triple swap.
What is an example of Rollover?
A position left open at 5pm New York on Wednesday has its value date rolled from Friday to the following Monday, so three days of swap are applied in a single adjustment that night.
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