Holding a perpetual over the weekend: funding payments South African traders overlook

Friday evening is a common moment to decide whether to close a perpetual position or keep it running until Monday. Many traders look only at price levels when deciding. What they forget is that a weekend contains a lot of funding settlements. On perpetual contracts, funding is exchanged between longs and shorts at fixed intervals, every day including Saturday and Sunday. Over two and a half days, small payments can add up to a noticeable amount.

Count the settlements

Open the contract on your exchange and look at the funding interval shown in the contract details, along with the current rate. Work out how many settlements fall between now and the time you expect to check the position on Monday, using South African time. A contract that settles several times a day crosses many settlements over a weekend. Write that number down.

Estimate the cost roughly

Multiply the current rate by your full position value and by the number of settlements. The result is only an estimate, because the rate changes, but it tells you the order of magnitude. If the rate has been in the same direction for days, the estimate is likely closer. Compare it with the profit you hope to make by holding. If funding could eat most of it, reconsider.

Weekend liquidity and risk

Weekend markets can be thinner, and sudden moves happen when fewer participants are active. That matters more than funding for leveraged positions. Before the weekend, check your estimated liquidation price, reduce leverage if it is close, and make sure a stop loss is in place. Turn on app notifications so a fill or margin warning reaches you even if you are not watching.

Review on Monday

On Monday, open your funding history and add up what was paid or received over the weekend. Compare it with your estimate from Friday. After a few weekends you will know whether holding through them suits your strategy. Keep funding, trading fees and price movement as separate lines in your notes so you can tell which one drove the result. If weekend funding regularly works against your usual direction, closing on Friday and reopening on Monday may be simpler, even after paying the extra trading fees.

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Scenario checkpoint

• Count the funding settlements between Friday and Monday using the contract interval.
• Estimate weekend funding as rate times full position value times settlements.
• Check liquidation distance, leverage and stop loss before the weekend.
• Compare actual weekend funding with your estimate on Monday.