The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has kicked the week off on a strong footing, recording a gain of 1.06% at the time of writing to just under 7,140 points.
But let's go a little deeper and check out the ASX 200 shares that are currently at the top of the market's trading volume charts, according to investing.com.
The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Monday
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)
Whitehaven Coal is first up. This ASX 200 energy share currently has had 13.76 million of its shares traded on the markets so far today. There hasn't been much out of the company itself today, apart from a share buyback notice which could in itself be boosting volumes.
But the Whitehaven share price has had a rather wild time of it today. The company is presently up 0.25% at $4.05 a share, but rose as high as $4.22 earlier today before a sharp plunge after lunch brought it to its current level. This probably explains the high volumes we are seeing.
Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX: IPL)
ASX 200 fertiliser, chemical and explosives manufacturer Incitec Pivot is next up this Monday. Today so far, we've seen a hefty 15.42 million Incitec shares bought and sold. Again, this doesn't seem to be the result of anything the company itself has released today.
However, the Incitec share price is powering ahead. Incitec shares have added 2.43% so far today at $3.79 a share, well outperforming the broader market. It's this healthy gain that is probably responsible for the elevated trading we are witnessing.
Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX: NIC)
Our third and final share of the day is ASX 200 nickel miner Nickel Mines. This popular company had had a notable 24.56 million of its shares swap hands thus far this Monday. Unlike Incitec Pivot though, this seems to be the result of a nasty share price fall.
Nickel Mines shares are currently down by a depressing 2.58% at $1.16 each. This could be related to some tough love from a broker this morning, which my Fool colleague James touched on earlier. But it's probably the size of the selloff that is responsible for the elevated trading that we are seeing.
