5 Best Swing Trading Forex Brokers for 2024

List of Top Forex Brokers for Swing Trading

Best for US Traders

Best for International Traders

What is Swing Trading?

Swing trading is a strategy that targets short- to medium-term gains in financial instruments over a period of a few days to several weeks. Utilizing both technical and fundamental analysis, swing traders look for patterns and setups to determine optimal entry and exit points.

This approach is particularly effective in volatile markets where significant price fluctuations can offer substantial profit opportunities. Swing trading is less time-intensive than day trading, appealing to those seeking active involvement without constant market monitoring.

How Did FX Empire Select the Best Forex Brokers for Swing Trading?

• Safety and transparency. We only selected tightly regulated brokers that adhere to the industry’s most important safety requirements.
• Low swaps. We considered brokers with affordable rollover costs that are suitable for the purposes of longer-term trading.
• Suitable platforms. We ensured that each broker provides versatile platforms that support fast and easy order execution, as well as advanced technical analysis.
• Supporting tools. We also looked for great supporting content, such as the availability of market breakdowns and actionable trading ideas.
• Instruments selection. We preferred brokers with a broad and diverse selection of tradable instruments as it is important for swing traders to exploit all kinds of trading opportunities.

Our team of experts has identified brokers’ strengths and weaknesses using FX Empire’s comprehensive methodology. Here’s how we test.

Now let’s dive into the selected brokers.

How to Choose a Broker for Swing Trading?

In this part, I will outline what traders must consider when looking for a trustworthy broker for swing trading.

How to verify if a broker is regulated?

To verify whether a broker is regulated and to identify the regulatory body overseeing it, you can take several steps:

• Check Broker Regulation: Visit the broker’s website and scroll to the bottom to find its legal name and licensing number.
• Confirm Regulatory Compliance: Go to the regulator’s website and search for the broker using the licensing number.
• Evaluate Execution Transparency: On the broker’s website, look for a ‘best execution policy.’ Also, check for statements regarding execution quality and find information about the average execution speed.
• Evaluate Fees Transparency: Look for live spreads data on the broker’s website and explore the broker’s client agreement for any other non-trading fees.

Read more about Best regulated forex brokers.

How to check a broker’s protection level?

To find a trustworthy partner, make sure that the broker’s entity you choose is tightly regulated and complies with most industry safety requirements.

I have broken down the most important safety mechanisms to look for in a broker below:

• Segregation of client funds. Brokers must keep their clients’ funds in separate bank accounts from the ones used for their corporate capital. This is crucial for mitigating the risk of accounting errors.
• Negative balance protection. Negative balance protection means a trader’s losses cannot exceed their account balance. This protection is indispensable when trading high-risk instruments, such as Contracts for Difference (CFDs).
• Limited market exposure. Limiting market exposure protects traders against adverse price fluctuations. That is why most top-tier regulators cap the maximum leverage allowed at 1:30, whereas less strict regulators can allow leverage as high as 1:2000.
• Compensation scheme. Depending on the jurisdiction where a broker is situated, a compensation scheme may also protect its clients against the company’s credit risk and liabilities. For instance, brokers regulated by CySEC participate in the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF). In the unlikely event of the company becoming insolvent, traders can be compensated by up to 20,000 EUR. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) – under FCA UK – protects traders by up to 85,000 GBP.

Find Best FCA-regulated brokers and Best CySEC-regulated brokers.

How to assess if a broker’s trading fees are competitive?

Assessing if a broker’s trading fees are competitive involves comparing different account types, such as STP and ECN, which vary in pricing mechanisms. STP accounts typically offer commission-free trading with floating spreads, while ECN accounts feature fixed commissions and raw spreads (starting from 0.1 pips). At first glance, STP might seem cheaper as it involves only the spread cost, but brokers may increase the spreads making them less competitive.

Discover Best STP forex accounts and Best ECN forex accounts.

To evaluate the competitiveness of a broker’s fees, consider a practical example using the EURUSD pair: If the spread is 0.9 pips on an STP account and 0.1 pips on an ECN account, with a $6 commission per 100,000 units on the ECN account, you can calculate the total cost using the formula: value of a trade = (spread x pip value) + commission. For a pip value of $10, the costs are:

When we pop in the above values, this is what we discover about our hypothetical broker:

This example shows how an initially higher cost (ECN) can be more economical due to lower spreads plus a fixed commission. Always calculate trading costs for any broker you’re considering, and consult broker reviews for competitive options.

Check out our list of Best lowest spread forex brokers.

How to choose a trading platform?

A trading platform is your window into the market. It allows you to observe price action behavior and study potential opportunities for placing orders. Technical traders use a platform’s array of indicators, drawing tools, and other features to examine various price patterns, changes in volatility, liquidity, and so on to gauge the most favorable times to enter or exit the market.

The best platforms are also the most versatile ones. They include a wide spectrum of technical indicators, such as Fibonacci retracement levels, oscillators, trend-based and range-based indicators, and others, as well as drawing tools, such as trend lines, channels, wedges, etc. They also allow you to scale price action up and down easily.

The retail industry’s most popular platforms, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, have established themselves as benchmarks for simplicity and reliability over the years. While they offer a decent range of technical indicators and drawing tools for multi-timeframe analysis, their rugged design becomes evident when compared to newer and sleeker platforms. Although MetaTrader is suitable for beginners, those seeking more advanced trading capabilities may require a sophisticated platform.

Read more about best MT4 brokers and best MT5 brokers.

In response, some brokers have developed their own proprietary platforms, which offer convenience and additional features not found in MetaTrader. These platforms allow for instrument search by asset class, easy scaling of price action, and execution of complex box orders. Ultimately, the choice of the best platform for you boils down to a trade-off between simplicity and practicality.

Check out our dedicated guide on Best forex trading platforms.

Key Factors to Consider for Swing Trading

• Market Analysis: Swing traders primarily use technical analysis to identify trading opportunities through indicators like moving averages, RSI, and MACD. Though less emphasized, integrating fundamental analysis of economic indicators and company earnings can also enhance their strategic approach.
• Instruments Selection: Choose instruments with enough volatility to provide substantial price moves yet not so volatile that they are unpredictable. Stocks, forex, ETFs, and commodities are common choices among swing traders.
• Risk Management: Effective risk management is essential, involving careful position sizing – typically risking 1-2% of total capital per trade – utilizing stop-loss orders to cap losses and protect gains, and aiming for a risk/reward ratio of at least 1:2 to ensure potential rewards justify the risks.
• Leverage: Be cautious with the use of leverage. While it can increase the potential gains, it also increases potential losses.
• Software and Tools: Use trading platforms and tools that can provide real-time data, technical analysis resources, and automated trading options, which are beneficial for monitoring trades and making informed decisions.
• Trading Plan: Develop a clear trading plan that defines when and how you will enter and exit trades, what conditions will trigger a trade, how much you will risk, and what your goals are.
• Psychological Factors: Swing trading can test your patience and emotions. It’s important to stay disciplined, stick to your trading plan, and avoid making impulsive decisions based on emotions.

Discover Best share CFD brokers and Best commodity trading brokers.

Risks of Swing Trading

• Market Volatility: Swing trading strategies rely on capturing price movements within a relatively short timeframe, which can make them susceptible to market volatility. Sudden price swings caused by economic reports, market sentiment changes, or geopolitical events can adversely affect open positions.
• Overnight and Weekend Risk: Since positions are held for several days to weeks, they are subject to overnight and weekend risk. Events or news that occur when the markets are closed can lead to significant price changes at the next market opening, which may not be in favor of the trader’s position.
• Psychological Pressure: The need to monitor positions over days or weeks can add significant psychological pressure and stress, particularly as markets fluctuate. Emotional decision-making in response to such pressures can lead to mistakes and losses.
• Timing Risk: Timing is crucial in swing trading. Entering or exiting a trade too early or too late can lead to missed opportunities or increased losses. Misjudging the momentum or duration of a market move can undermine the effectiveness of a swing trading strategy.
• Liquidity Risk: Trading instruments that do not have sufficient liquidity can pose a risk, as entering and exiting positions may be difficult without affecting the price, leading to potential slippage and not getting the desired prices.
• Financial Leverage Risk: Many swing traders use leverage to increase their exposure, which can amplify gains but also magnify losses. Mismanagement of leverage can quickly result in substantial financial losses, especially if market movements are contrary to expectations.
• Technical Dependency: Swing trading often relies heavily on technical analysis. Reliance on technical indicators without considering broader market factors or faulty technical setups can lead to incorrect trading decisions.

Our Methodology

Here at FX Empire, we have pioneered a unique methodology for evaluating Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives brokers worldwide. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive picture of a broker’s pros and cons so that our readers can make informed decisions. We understand their need to choose the best partner for their particular goals and needs.

Our team of dedicated professionals is working continuously to improve our system and keep it up-to-date with current market trends. We test each broker systematically by employing over 250 variables across nine categories:

• Trust
• Fees
• Account Types
• Tradable Instruments
• Platforms and Tools
• Deposits and Withdrawals
• Customer Support
• Research
• Education

We strive to be as objective as possible, which is why our rigorous examinations are devoid of any personal bias as much as possible. We review the licenses of all the subsidiaries of a broker and check the fine print in the Client Agreement. The reliability of a broker is further determined based on the regulation, fees, and general transparency of the website.

We collect essential information by opening a live account with a broker entity and testing its services in real time. We measure the spreads, swaps, and commissions on its most popular account type and compare our findings to the industry average.

We also test the functionality of the available platforms, the number and types of tradable instruments, the reliability of customer support, and the quality of the research and educational materials.

For this guide, we looked for brokers that offer the best conditions for longer-term trading. We considered factors such as commission rate, spreads rate, and the competitiveness of the brokers’ overnight charges. We only selected brokers with versatile and feature-rich platforms, diverse instrument offerings, and comprehensive research content.

We abide by our strict guidelines for editorial integrity based on the objective standards we have set for our reviews. You can read more about our review process here.

Meet Our Writers

The team of forex and CFD analysts and editors at FXEmpire is composed of trading industry professionals and seasoned financial journalists. Our experts have been published on leading financial websites such as Investopedia and Forbes. In addition, they all have extensive trading experience.

Related Broker Guides

• Best Forex Brokers
• Best CFD Brokers
• Best Forex Brokers for Hedging
• Best High Leverage Forex Brokers
• Best Day Trading Forex Brokers
• Best Fast Execution Forex Brokers
• Best Forex Brokers for Professionals

FAQ