The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has decided to have a decidedly negative hump day so far this session. After yesterday's tentative losses, the ASX 200 has stepped on the gas when it comes to selling this Wednesday, currently nursing a nasty loss of 1.39%. That drags the index down to less than 7,110 points.
It looks like the latest inflation numbers might be to blame for this selling pressure.
But rather than dwelling on all of that, let's now have a gander at the shares presently topping the ASX 200's share trading volume charts, according to investing.com.
The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Wednesday
Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)
Our first ASX 200 share worth a look at this Wednesday is the lithium stock Sayona Mining. We have seen a sizeable 12.41 million Sayona shares swapped on the ASX boards at this point of the day. We haven't had any fresh news from the company during this session.
But Sayona is probably still reeling from its dramatic return from a capital raise yesterday. The prior session saw this company shed a substantial 9.52% of its value. It's fallen a further 1.35% so far today. This leaves Sayona shares at 18.25 cents each at present. It's probably these factors together that have led to so many Sayona shares flying around today.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Our next stock is another ASX 200 lithium share in Pilbara Minerals. A chunky 15.14 million Pilbara shares have made their way across to new owners at this point of the trading day. We haven't had any new developments out of Pilbara for a while now.
So this volume is probably due to movements of Pilbara shares themselves this session. Right now, the lithium company has lost a meaty 0.67% at $4.44 a share. But Pilbara has had a rather bouncy day, and was even in the green at one point this morning. This shaky performance probably explains the high trading volume we are seeing here.
Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)
Third, and finally, let's check out ASX 200 uranium share Paladin Energy. A whopping 62.53 million Paladin shares have been bought and sold as it currently stands on the markets. Paladin has had a shocking week so far. Yesterday saw the company lose almost 20% of its value before trading was halted before midday, which we explained here.
Today, Paladin shares returned to trading but continued to slide lower in what has been a wild session. The company opened higher this morning before investors got cold feet and sent the shares back into red territory. Paladin recovered again and is now trading even at 53.5 cents a share. All of these factors have probably led to the elevated volumes we are witnessing.
