It's looking like the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is heading for a positive end to the trading week, and an especially welcome start to the long weekend. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has smoothly risen by a healthy 0.37%, putting the index at just under 7,130 points.
Since the ASX has fallen most days this week, including by a nasty 1.2% on Monday, investors might be breathing a sigh of relief as we are on track to a positive finish.
So let's now delve a little deeper into these market gains by taking stock of the shares that are presently topping the ASX 200's share trading volume charts at present, according to investing.com.
The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Friday
Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)
First up today we have ASX 200 lithium stock Sayona Mining to check out. A hefty 11.45 million Sayona shares have been swapped on the ASX so far this session. We haven't had anything out of Sayona itself this Friday. So we can probably assume that this volume is a consequence of the bouncy showing Sayona has displayed today.
Sayona shares started out strong this morning, rising as high as 18.5 cents a share soon after open. However, investors have since pumped the brakes, and Sayona is now flat at 18 cents each after dropping down to 17.5 cents a few times today. This jerky performance likely explains this high volume here.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Next up, we have another ASX 200 lithium share in Pilbara Minerals. Sayona's stablemate has seen a sizeable 14.96 million shares bought and sold so far. All has been quiet on the Pilbara news front today as well. So again, it looks as though we can thank the company's share price movements themselves for this elevated trading volume.
Pilbara has indeed had an interesting day. The company is currently enjoying a decent 0.32% gain at $4.74 a share. But earlier today, we saw PIlbara go as high as $4.84 (up 2.5%). It's likely that this gain as well as Pilbara's fall back to earth this afternoon, is to credit for this volume here.
Nickel Industries Ltd (ASX: NIC)
ASX 200 nickel share Nickel Industries is our third, final and most traded share of the day thus far. Nickel Industries has watched as 18.2 million of its shares have found a new home today at present. This one is easy to work out. Nickel Industries announced a whopping near-$1 billion capital raise program this morning.
The company will be raising $943 million at a price of $1.10 per share, which was close to a 30% premium on its last traded share price. Investors have evidently been delighted by this news, seeing as the Nickel Industries share price is up a nice 11.56% at present to 96 cents a share. No wonder so many shares are flying around the ASX boards this Friday.
