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

Some big moves from ASX lithium shares are driving trading 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 April 6, 2023 3:31 pm AEST

It's looking like the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is set to give investors a bit of an Easter headache as we round out the shorter trading week this Thursday. After starting this morning in positive territory, the ASX 200 has sunk into red ink this afternoon and is currently down by 0.31% at just over 7,210 points.

They'll be a bit less chocolate to go around this weekend if the markets continue their current trajectory.

But rather than letting that put a dampener on our long weekend, let's instead turn to the ASX 200 shares that are currently at the top of the share market's trading volume charts, according to investing.com.

Small chocolate bunnies. — Image source: Getty Images

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Thursday

Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR)

ASX 200 real estate investment trust (REIT) Mirvac is first up this Thursday. So far this session, a hefty 14.45 million Mirvac units have made their way across the ASX boards. We haven't heard anything from Mirvac for a while now.

So we'll have to assume this volume is the result of the movement of Mirvac units themselves. This REIT has indeed had a bit of a volatile day. After closing at $2.14 per unit yesterday, Mirvac opened strong at $2.17. But investors have since cooled off, with Mirvac now up by 0.47% at $2.15 a unit. This bouncing around looks like the cause of this high volume.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

Next we have ASX 200 lithium leader Pilbara Minerals to check out. This Thursday has seen a sizeable 21.26 million Pilbara shares bought and sold on the markets today. We haven't seen any news out of Pilbara itself either.

But that hasn't stopped the Pilbara share price from tanking by a nasty 3.75% this session to $3.59 a share, which explains the volumes on display here. As my Fool colleague James went into this afternoon, this looks like it could be a result of the tumble that lithium stocks took over on the US markets overnight.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA).

Our third, final and most-traded ASX 200 share this Thursday is another lithium stock in Sayona Mining. A whopping 24.13 million Sayona shares have crossed the proverbial Rubicon this far in today's trading. This looks to be a very similar situation to that of Pilbara.

Fortunately for Sayona investors today, this company isn't suffering quite as much as some of its peers. Right now, the Sayona share price has slumped by 1.54% down to 19 cents per share but even spent some time in the gain territory this morning. This volatility, as well as the current loss, is probably behind the high trading volumes on display here.

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