WASHINGTON: U.S. stocks traded at their lowest volume of the year on Wednesday as traders awaited the kickoff of the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole, Wyo., meeting of central bankers. Total composite volume for U.S. stocks finished at 5 billion shares Wednesday, its lightest volume of the year excluding half-day trading sessions, according to Dow Jones data.
The average daily volume for August is 5.98 billion shares, and for the year it’s 6.54 billion shares. Volume on the Nasdaq was at its second lightest of the year at 1.51 billion shares, well below the August average of 1.82 billion shares and the year-to-date average of 1.89 billion shares. New York Stock Exchange volume was also well below averages at 2.76 billion shares, close to its low of the year of 2.71 billion shares set on July 14. Stocks finished lower Wednesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.40% and the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.35% both down 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.30% declining 0.3%.
