Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Thursday

We've got some interesting developments that are driving ASX volumes today.

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 March 16, 2023 3:29 pm AEDT

It's been yet another day of carnage for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Thursday. After what has been a highly volatile week, the ASX 200 has fallen again, this time by a nasty 1.58%. That puts the Index back below 6,960 points.

Ouch. But let's not dwell too long on those depressing figures. It's time now for a look at the ASX 200 shares that are at the peak of the share market's trading volume charts at present, according to investing.com.

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The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Thursday

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

First up today is the ASX 200 lithium share Pilbara Minerals. So far this session, a notable 28.31 million Pilbara shares have been dug up and sold on the markets. With no news from the company this Thursday, it looks like this volume is the result of the movements of Pilbara shares themselves.

Pilbara has lost another 3.94% so far today and is currently down to $3.535 a share. As my Fool colleague covered this morning, Pilbara investors have now lost 20% of their capital over the past week alone. No wonder so many shares are flying around.

Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Next up is the ASX 200 telco Telstra. This Thursday has seen a hefty 32.33 million Telstra shares rung up for sale thus far. There's also not been much news out of Telstra, apart from a notice today that non-executive director Ming Long has acquired just over $100,000 worth of shares recently.

So perhaps today's volumes are a consequence of this notice.

But Telstra has also been bouncing around a fair bit this session. The telco is currently up by a healthy 0.74% at $4.10, defying the broader market. But this morning, Telstra sunk into the red briefly, getting down to $4.04 a share. This volatility is probably driving the high volumes we are seeing.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)

Finally this Thursday, we have another ASX 200 lithium stock in Sayona Mining to consider. So far today, a hefty 34.22 million shares have been bought and sold on the share market. Sayona is another ASX 200 share that is bucking the market.

The lithium stock has gained a decent 1.16% so far, putting the company up at 21.75 cents a share. That was despite Sayona starting out in the red this morning.

This high volume could be the result of the major announcement Sayona made to investors before open today. As my Fool colleague Monica covered earlier, Sayona announced that it has produced its first saleable commercial-grade spodumene lithium concentrate at its North American Lithium project.

This is probably contributing to Sayona's place at the top of the ASX 200 trading sharts right now.

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