Wall Street Flat, Volumes Still “Dead”

Stocks were little changed on Wednesday, the third straight day of limited market action as investors shrugged off the latest data to look ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech on Friday for trading incentives.

Daily volume so far this week has been low even for a seasonally slow period, with trading levels about 30 percent below the year-to-date average, an indication of how market participants are reluctant to make any major investment moves ahead of the Fed chairman’s speech.