The Australian share market was flat at noon with investors watchful about how US fiscal cliff negotiations were tracking.
At 1230 AEDT on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up two points at 4,636.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up one point at 4,647.6.
The market has not closed at those levels since June 2, 2011.
On the ASX 24, the March share price index futures contract was up five points at 4,614 with 14,224 contracts traded.
US Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s pledge to work with President Obama was enough to help improve sentiment, said IG Markets market strategist Stan Shamu.
Investors around the world fear the approaching fiscal cliff – tax increases and government spending cuts that take effect January 1 and could tip the world’s largest economy back into recession unless a compromise is found.
“It is an issue that continues to dominate trade, is the headline risk to the market and going forward will be until we get a definitive solution with what’s happening with the fiscal cliff,” Mr Shamu told AAP.
Investors were preferring the safety of `yield plays’ on Friday such as banking stocks, he said.
ANZ shares were 20 cents, or 0.8 per cent up, at $25, Commonwealth Bank was 34 cents stronger at $61.85, Westpac had added 22 cents to $26.19 and National Australia Bank was five cents higher a $24.93.
The miners were more mixed on a more risk averse day for traders, with materials stocks down.
Rio Tinto was down 39 cents to $64.91, BHP Billiton had shed 18 cents to $36.86 and Fortescue Metals had given up 3.0 cents to $4.47.
Gold stocks were having another tough day with the gold price having eased lately, although the two do not always correlate.
Newcrest Mining was 20 cents lower at $22.29.
In local news, Billabong shares had sunk to near all-time lows after chief financial officer Craig White left the troubled surfwear retailer late Thursday.
It came less than a day after the company began considering its lowest takeover offer in 10 months.
But by noon, Billabong shares had regained some ground, up 3.5 cents, or 4.4 per cent at 83.5 cents.
