The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) looks like it will finish up the week in the red today. So far this Friday, the ASX 200 is down a rather nasty 0.93% to 7,391 points.
But instead of leaving you with that depressing number, let's instead check out the ASX shares that are flying around the markets today and topping the charts in terms of trading volume so far. So here are the top 3 most traded ASX 200 shares at the time of writing, according to investing.com.
3 ASX 200 shares flying around the markets today
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)
ASX 200 coal company Whitehaven is our first share to check out this Friday. Whitehaven has, so far today, seen a hefty 16.07 million of its shares swap hands. With no major news or announcements out of the company, we can probably put this high level of trading down to what has happened to the Whitehaven share price so far today.
The company is presently down a nasty 8.06% to $2.85 a share. As my Fool colleague Zach went through this morning, this seems to have been caused by a backlash to the company's recently approved plans to extend its Vickery coal mine.
This is almost certainly behind the large volume of Whitehaven shares that are trading today.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
ASX 200 telco Telstra is our next ASX share to check out today. At the time of writing, a sizeable 23 million Telstra shares have been bought and sold. That's despite an absence of any news or announcements out of the company today.
However, Telstra did have a big day yesterday, rising more than 2% at one point to hit a new 52-week high. This was in response to a new cost-cutting plan the company announced. However, today Telstra shares are retreating, down 0.63% at the present to $3.92 each. This is probably the reason behind Telstra's presence on today's list.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)
And our final and most traded ASX 200 share today is the giant iron ore miner Fortescue. Fortescue has seen a whopping 29.9 million of its shares trade hands so far this Friday. This large volume is almost certainly the result of what we see today with the Fortescue share price.
The miner is currently down a significant 10.9% today so far to $15.37 a share, after hitting a new 52-week low this morning of $15.25. As the Fool covered this morning, collapsing iron ore prices, as well as concerns over the Chinese market, seems to be the primary drivers here.
