The swap is a fee credited or debited to your open trades for carrying it overnight to the next trading day. When you roll a position over to the next trading day, you will either earn or pay a swap fee.

Any open trades carried over to the next trading day may incur a swap fee. The close of the trading day is considered to be at the close of business New York time, or 22:00 GMT (London time). Open trades will continue to accrue swaps until they are closed.

Central banks increase or decrease borrowing costs in accordance with their monetary policy. Each currency has its own interest rate set by the respective central bank. When you buy or sell currencies or assets, the swap is calculated based on the interest rate differential between the assets in the symbol. Swaps are calculated in pips or points based on the interest rate differential between these assets.

For example, suppose the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) sets an interest rate of 5% annually, while the Bank of Japan (BOJ) decides upon a 0% interest rate. This means that the US Dollar would yield 5% interest each year, while the Japanese Yen would not yield anything. Borrowing US Dollars would incur a 5% interest rate while borrowing the Japanese Yen wouldn't incur any yearly interest. So by simultaneously selling the Japanese Yen to buy US Dollars, it would incur a positive swap differential of 5% per annum. However by simultaneously selling US dollars to buy Japanese Yen, it would incur a negative swap of 5% per annum.

The annual swap differential is then divided by the number of days in the year and converted to the pip or point equivalent and is applied to open trades daily.

Depending on the direction of the trade and the interest rate differential between the two assets in the symbol, you may either earn or pay swaps. If the currency or asset you bought has a higher interest rate than the currency or asset you sold, you will receive the swap (positive swap). If the interest rate is lower, you will pay the swap (negative swap). Swaps affect the unrealized profit or loss of open trades for as long as they remain open and are being carried overnight to the next trading day.

Central banks set interest rates for their respective countries, and these rates can differ significantly. Swaps, especially in forex trading, depend on the interest rate differential between the two currencies in a currency pair. So varying interest rates across countries contribute to different swaps in different markets.

1. Go to the Market Watch window in the MT4 or MT5 trading platforms. MT4 or MT5 trading platforms.

2. Right-click on the financial instrument (symbol) you want to view the swap rates.

3. Select Specification from the menu that appears.

4. The symbol description window will open where you can find the swap rates under Swap long (for buy positions) and Swap Short (for short positions)