IC Markets
You closed the platform with the account at one figure and opened it to a lower one, without placing a trade. Three things move an account overnight while you sleep: the swap charged on open positions at the rollover, the wider spread that marks your open positions at a worse price during thin hours, and a price gap. This guide separates them.
1. Swap at the rollover
Any position open at the daily rollover, typically 5pm New York time, is charged or credited swap for the night. On most pairs it is a net cost, and on Wednesday it is charged triple to cover the weekend. If you hold positions overnight, expect the balance to move by the swap amount even if the market itself did nothing. Check the swap long and short values in the instrument specification. The swap guide covers the mechanics.
2. A wider spread marking your open positions
Your open positions are valued at the price you would close them at right now: the bid for a long, the ask for a short. During thin overnight hours the spread widens, so that mark-to-market price is worse, and your floating profit and loss drops even though the mid price has not moved. When liquidity returns in the morning and the spread tightens, some of that comes back. It is a valuation effect on open trades, not a realised loss unless you close during the wide-spread window.
3. A price gap
If real news broke overnight, or over a weekend, the market can reopen or jump to a price well away from where you left it. An open position is then marked at the new level. A weekend gap is the classic version: forex closes Friday evening and reopens Sunday evening, and if something happened in between, the pair opens at a different price with no trading in the gap for your stop to catch.
| Symptom | Cause | Reversible? |
|---|---|---|
| Balance dropped by a small, exact amount at ~5pm NY | Swap charge | No, it is realised |
| Floating P/L worse overnight, recovers in the morning | Wider off-hours spread on open positions | Partly, as the spread tightens |
| Large jump against you at the weekly or daily open | Price gap on news | No; the position is marked at the new price |
| Position closed with a stop-out label overnight | A gap or spike drove the margin level to stop-out | No |
Tobias held three positions over a Wednesday night and found the account down about EUR 22 with the market barely moved. The swap on his pairs was a cost, and the Wednesday triple charge on three positions accounted for almost all of it. He now checks the swap values before deciding whether to hold past the rollover, and closes positions where the swap is a heavy cost.
How to stop it
- Close positions before the daily rollover if you do not want to pay swap.
- Do not judge floating P/L during the thin overnight window; the spread is wide and the mark is pessimistic.
- Avoid holding leveraged positions over weekends, when gap risk is highest.
- Reduce or close positions before major scheduled events that land outside your waking hours.
- Keep position sizes small enough that an overnight gap is a defined percentage of your account, not a threat to it.
A gap can push a leveraged position past your stop-loss and your stop-out level before any trading happens, which is how weekend holds produce the worst overnight losses. If you hold over a weekend, size the position for a possible several-per-cent gap.
Three things move an account overnight: swap, the off-hours spread on your open trades, and gaps. Swap is small and predictable, the spread effect mostly reverses by morning, and the gap is the dangerous one. If an overnight loss shocked you, it was almost certainly a gap on a position that was too large to hold unattended.
Frequently asked
Why did my forex account lose money overnight without a trade?
Swap charged on your open positions at the daily rollover, a wider off-hours spread marking your open positions at a worse price, or a price gap if news broke while the market was thin or closed.
Is the overnight spread loss permanent?
Not entirely. Your open positions are marked at the wider off-hours spread, which makes floating P/L look worse. When liquidity returns in the morning and the spread tightens, some of that recovers, unless you closed during the wide-spread window.
How does a weekend gap cause an overnight loss?
Forex closes Friday evening and reopens Sunday evening. If news breaks in between, the market opens at a different price with no trading in the gap, so your stop-loss cannot catch it and your position is marked at the new, worse level.
How do I avoid overnight losses?
Close positions before the rollover to avoid swap, avoid holding leveraged trades over weekends and through major events outside your waking hours, and keep position sizes small enough that a gap is a defined percentage of your account.
Why was my position closed overnight?
A gap or overnight spike likely drove your margin level to the broker's stop-out threshold, and the broker closed positions automatically to protect the account. Check the trade history for a stop-out label.