The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a pretty decent day on the ASX boards today, in what would be a nice change for investors, the ASX 200 is currently up 0.6% to 7,2450 points at the time of writing.
But let's now look at the ASX 200 shares that are currently being the most heavily traded in terms of raw volume so far today. That's according to investing.com.
The 3 heaviest trading ASX 200 shares so far this Thursday
Ausnet Services Ltd (ASX: AST)
ASX 200 energy company Ausnet is our first share to check out today. This electricity provider has seen a hefty 15.1 million of its shares change owners so far today. That's despite not much major news out of this company.
However, the Ausnet share price is bucking the broader market today. It's currently down a notable 1.19% to $2.49 a share. It's possible that this slide downwards is responsible for the high volume of Ausnet shares trading this Thursday.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)
Our second ASX 200 share today is coal miner Whitehaven. Whitehaven makes yet another appearance this week with a sizeable 19.16 million shares flying around the markets so far today. Whitehaven has been on an extraordinary run this week, up almost 7% since Friday's close to yesterday's close.
However, investors seem to have gotten cold feet over Whitehaven shares today. The company is presently down a nasty 7.8% so far today to $3.31 a share, which my Fool colleague Mitchell dug a little deeper into earlier today. This dramatic slide is probably the reason why we are seeing so many Whitehaven shares bought and sold this Thursday so far.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Pilbara is often the ASX 200's most traded share of the day. And it seems today will be no different. A whopping 22.21 million Pilbara shares have swapped hands thus far this Thursday.
This seems to be a reaction to Pilbara's announcement this morning. The company revealed that commissioning has begun on its Ngungaju lithium plant, which Pilbara seemed to have bought for peanuts last year, according to my Fool colleague Kerry.
Investors seem to overwhelmingly approve, seeing as the Pilbara share price is now up by an impressive 6.42% to $1.99 a share
