It's looking like the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) will have a positive end to the trading week at this point of Friday's trading session.
At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a healthy 0.4%, which puts it back over the 7,500 point mark for the first time since April 2022. The Index is now up a rather extraordinary 8% in 2023 to date.
So time now to delve a little deeper into these market moves by checking out the shares currently at the top of the ASX 200's share trading volume charts, according to investing.com.
The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Friday
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)
ASX 200 coal miner Whitehaven is our first share worth a look this Friday. So far today, a hefty 14.46 million Whitehaven shares have been swapped on the markets. This is almost certainly a result of the nasty share price fall this company has copped.
At present, Whitehaven has lost 6.47% of its value this session, and is now going for $8.46 a share.
It's not entirely clear why Whitehaven is getting such a thumping today, although we went into some possible reasons earlier. But regardless, it's this drop that is almost certainly to blame for the high volumes we are seeing.
Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)
Next up this session, we have ASX 200 lithium share Liontown Resources. Today has had a sizeable 18.14 million Liontown shares change hands as it currently stands. There's been no news out of Liontown today either.
But that hasn't stopped this lithium company from leaping a pleasing 3.9% at present to $1.60 a share, which explains why we are seeing high trading volumes right now.
Liontown fared even better earlier today too, going as high as $1.68 a share. Liontown joins many other lithium shares in having an especially pleasant end to the trading week.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Speaking of, our third, final, and most traded ASX 200 share of the day is another lithium stock in Pilbara Minerals. This Friday has seen a whopping 23.46 million PIlbara shares fly around the ASX boards thus far.
Unfortunately for investors, Pilbara is one of the lithium shares not rising today. In fact, the company is rapidly going the other way, recording a nasty loss of 3.42% at present to $4.94 a share. That's despite Pilbara initially rising as high as $5.26 a share this morning.
Perhaps investors didn't like the announcement this morning that John Stanning has been appointed to the newly created position of chief development officer at the company.
Whatever the reason for Pilbara's losses today, this is probably the cause of the high volumes on display.
