The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a pretty decent start to the trading week today. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up a healthy 0.92% to 7,379.5 points after rising to a new record high of 7,398 points earlier in the day.
Let's check out the 3 ASX 200 shares that have been swapping hands with the most enthusiasm today.
3 of the most traded ASX 200 shares today
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Telstra has been a very active ASX 200 share on the markets today, with 13.83 million shares having traded hands so far. That's despite the Telstra share price being flat today at $3.58 a share, and no major news or announcements coming out of the company. In saying that, earlier in the day Telstra did manage to get up to $3.60, which is just a tad below the ASX telco's 52-week high of $3.61.
With a market capitalisation of $42.58 billion, Telstra is one of the largest companies on the ASX. And with a relatively low share price compared to some of the other major ASX blue-chips, it tends to have more shares traded on average in comparison to Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares for example.
South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)
South32 is another ASX 200 blue chip that has been swapping hands enthusiastically, with a hefty 17.78 million shares traded today. That might be explained by the South32 share price falling a robust 1.02% today to $2.92 a share.
Those 16 million-odd shares may include some on-market share buybacks by South32 as well. According to ASX notices, this diversified mining company has been taking shares out of circulation most days in recent weeks. Share buybacks are usually 'return of capital' exercises that increase earnings per share (EPS) for the remaining shares (and are thus usually beneficial to shareholders).
Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)
Topping the ASX 200's most traded shares is uranium miner Paladin Energy, with a massive 71.04 million shares having changed owners today. This is likely the result of the Paladin share price's disappointing performance today, with Paladin shares down a nasty 11.3% to 51 cents a share.
As we covered earlier today, uranium miners like Paladin have come under pressure following reports that the American government is assessing a possibly radioactive leak at a Chinese nuclear power plant.
