These 3 ASX 200 shares topped the volume charts this Wednesday

We take a look at the most active ASX 200 shares by volume…

Sebastian Bowen

Author Bio Sebastian Bowen has been a Motley Fool contributor since late 2018. Sebastian found his passion for writing and educating others about shares and all things finance after completing his studies in political, economic and social science and enjoys bringing this passion to life at the Fool. His investment philosophy is a simple one – buying high-quality companies at prices that make sense. When he’s not researching his next investment at all hours of the morning, Sebastian enjoys classic movies and likes to unwind with a good book, newspaper or record. Areas of Expertise Dividend investing ETFs Education Bachelor of Political, Economic, and Social Sciences (Government and International Relations), University of Sydney Social Media X/Twitter Favorite Investment Quote "In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine." – Benjamin Graham

Published October 20, 2021 4:13 pm AEDT

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had another day of pleasing gains this Wednesday. The ASX 200 closed up a healthy 0.53% to 7,413.7 points. That's all well and good but let's now check out the ASX 200 shares that topped the charts in terms of raw trading volume, according to investing.com.

A pair of legs can be seen on the floor buried under a pile of paperwork, indicating a high volume day. — Image source: Getty Images

3 most active ASX 200 shares by volume on Wednesday

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)

This ASX 200 resources share is our first company to check out today The diversified miner has seen a sizeable 21.55 million of its shares trade on the markets today. South32 hasn't released any major updates today. But that hasn't stopped its share price from hitting the brakes.

The company's shares finished the day down 1.29% to $3.83 apiece. Since South32 has a relatively low share price for its size, moves like this can often push the company to the top of the ASX 200 trading volume pile, which we seemed to see today.

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT)

The ASX 200 energy share Beach is next on our list. This Wednesday has seen a hefty 22.88 million Beach shares swap owners. This high number appears to be the result of Beach's quarterly report which it released earlier this morning.

As my Fool colleague James covered today, this report outlined a 4% fall in oil production and an 8% slide in revenue despite higher oil prices in recent months. Investors didn't take too kindly to the news and the Beach share price finished down a nasty 3.68% today at $1.44 a share. This is the likely cause of so many Beach shares trading today.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)

Our third and final ASX 200 share today is yet another resources share in coal miner Whitehaven. Whitehaven has seen a whopping 25.69 million shares bought and sold on Wednesday. This surge in volume appears to be driven by news that "China's top economic planner is looking at possibly intervening in its coal market".

As my Fool colleague Kerry looked at earlier today, this has seen Whitehaven shares smashed. The miner fell as much as 10% this morning and closed today at $3.05 a share, down 7.85%. This is almost certainly behind the large trading volumes we saw with this company today.

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