The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a rather rocky day of trading so far this Thursday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is currently down 0.32% to 7,331 points after oscillating between gains and losses all day. So let's take a look at some of the ASX 200 shares that are being most heavily traded during this session:
3 heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Telco Telstra is our first ASX 200 share that's been making some moves on the share market today. So far, around 12.75 million Telstra shares have changed hands today. This may be a direct result of how the Telstra share price has performed today. Soon after market open this morning, Telstra hit a new 52-week high of $3.80 a share, putting its year to date gains at an impressive 26%. Telstra shares have cooled somewhat since, and are currently going for $3.78 a piece.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) bigwig Zip Co is out next ASX 200 share that's been er… zipping… around the markets today. In fact, today has seen a lofty 17.02 million Zip shares swap owners so far. This is probably correlated to the nasty 4.92% drop to $6.96 that Zip shares have been subjected to this Thursday.
As recently as Tuesday afternoon, Zip shares were trading above $8.20. But news that its BNPL competition might be heating up has evidently spooked investors a little. This has resulted in an elevated number of Zip shares trading ever since.
Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI)
And our ASX 200 winner for most traded shares today is… Spark Infrastructure. A very hefty 21.12 million shares have traded so far today. Spark shares are up a very healthy 6.45% so far to $2.64 a share. This seems to be a result of the confirmation of a takeover bid the company has received. The company told investors this morning that a proposal from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board along with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. was being considered.
This group is seeking to acquire 100% of Spark shares for $2.70 a share in cash (not including an upcoming dividend of 6.25 cents per share). It's clearly this news that is pushing up the Spark share price towards this offer price today. Which has naturally been accompanied by a surge in trading volume.
