After rising steadily for most of last week, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has rolled out of the wrong side of the bed today. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has slumped by 0.4%, dragging the index down to around 7,230 points.
But the week is still young. So rather than letting that get us down, let's instead check out the ASX 200 shares currently topping the share market's trading volume charts, according to investing.com.
The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Monday
Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)
First share up this Monday is the ASX 200 lithium producer Liontown Resources. So far this session, a notable 17.07 million Liontown shares have been traded on the ASX.
There's been no news out of Liontown itself today. However, we have had a few negative developments in the broader lithium space that could be playing a role here.
As my Fool colleague Monica covered this morning, there have been reports that Chinese EV battery producers will be producing more batteries than they can sell to car manufacturers by a factor of three by 2025. This doesn't bode well for lithium prices.
Further, lithium prices could also be facing some short-term pullbacks soon too due to weakening demand for electric vehicles.
Perhaps in response to these issues, Liontown shares have plunged by a nasty 6.25% at the time of writing to $1.875 each at present. This is probably why we are seeing such strong volumes for Liontown shares this Monday.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Next up is another ASX 200 lithium share – Pilbara Minerals. So far today, we've seen a hefty 27.42 million Pilbara shares exchanged on the market. With this company, however, we have some different news to report.
As we covered earlier this morning, Pilbara has announced a new joint venture with Calix Ltd (ASX: CXL).
This is intended to produce lithium salts with low costs and energy use. Perhaps investors are excited about this, with Pilbara shares down far less than Liontown, having lost around 1% at present to $4.415 each.
It's this news that may have sparked the elevated volumes we are seeing.
Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)
Our last share up this Monday is… another ASX 200 lithium producer. Core Lithium is the one in question, with a sizeable 34.12 million shares having swapped hands as it currently stands. Core Lithium hasn't been as fortunate as Pilbara today (although more fortunate than Liontown).
Its shares have lost a meaty 3.6% so far to trade at $1.287 a share. It's likely that the same factors behind Liontown's share price losses are also at play with Core Lithium.
It was worse around midday today too, with Core dropping as low as $1.24 a share, which was a loss close to 7% at the time. This fluctuation has probably put Core Lithium over the top today when it comes to ASX 200 trading volumes.
