The Saints had the lion's share of possession but failed to make the best of it as Reading's defence held out against non-stop second-half pressure.
The Royals' star men were all in defence with goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann making two top-class saves, while the centre-back pairing of Ivar Ingimarsson and Ibrahim Sonko gave nothing away to big front runners Kenwyne Jones and Ricardo Fuller.
Saints had plenty of chances to end their miserable sequence and none better than after only 30 seconds.
How Nigel Quashie managed to shoot wide from six yards will remain a mystery to a large crowd, which included 3,000 from Reading.
Quashie controlled a header from Jones and with the goal at his mercy somehow smashed wide when it looked easier to score.
Southampton had other opportunities and failed to take them.
In an exciting match full of incident and tension, Kamil Kosowski got in a tremendous left-foot shot from the edge of the area after 11 minutes but Hahnemann rose to turn the ball over the bar at full stretch.
Hahnemann saved his best for the 32nd minute when he somehow blocked a goal-bound header from Fuller after Kosowski had picked him out with a perfect left wing centre.
Quashie knew it was not his night when he was booked in the 23rd minute for pushing James Harper and there were yellow cards also for Reading pair Glen Little and Kevin Doyle, both for fouls.
The biggest cheer of the evening from a frustrated home crowd came in the 71st minute when Marian Pahars got off the bench to make his first appearance for 18 injury-ruined months.
But there was nothing Pahars could do to create a winner, although there were some late scares in the Reading defence.
Hahnemann spilled a shot from Danny Higginbotham and in injury-time Fuller headed wide from a good position.