It's been another calamitous day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Tuesday. After a rough start to the week yesterday, sellers have stepped on the gas today, sending the ASX 200 down by a nasty 1.67% at the time of writing to just under 7,000 points.
The ASX 200 has now wiped out its gains for the entire 2023 year to date.
But let's not let that sobering statistic ruin our Tuesday. So instead, let's turn to an analysis of the ASX 200 shares that are presently at the top of the share market's trading volume charts, according to investing.com.
The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Tuesday
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
First up this Tuesday we have the ASX 200 lithium leader Pilbara Minerals. So far today, a sizeable 28.12 million Pilbara shares have made their way across the ASX boards. There hasn't been any fresh news out of Pilbara itself today.
But we don't have to look too much further to see where this volume might be coming from. The Pilbara share price has collapsed today, currently down by a depressing 6.56% at $3.64 a share. Lithium shares have been particularly hard hit in this sell-off, so this seems to be the cause of the high trading volumes we are seeing.
Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL)
Next up we have ASX 200 health insurer Medibank Private. So far this session, a chunky 27.87 million Medibank shares have been exchanged on the ASX. We haven't had any news out of Medibank today either, or indeed this month so far.
So it looks like another share price fall is to blame. Medibank hasn't copped it as badly as Pilbara today. But this ASX 200 share is still down by a hefty 2% at $3.20 each. That puts its losses in March so far at just over 4%.
Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)
Finally, this Tuesday, let's take a look at another ASX 200 lithium stock in Sayona Mining. This trading session hasn't been kind to Sayona shares. Despite a lack of news from the company itself, the Sayona share price has fallen by a nasty 6.7% and is now going for just 21 cents each.
Since last Thursday, the Sayona share price has lost more than 17% of its value. It's this sizeable sell-off that seems to have placed Sayona at the top of the most traded stocks pile today, with a whopping 40.89 million shares traded thus far.