The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 per cent for the day and 2.8 per cent for the week to close at 5975.5 points, while the All Ordinaries rose 0.4 per cent for the day and 2.6 per cent for the week to close at 5936.3.

Friday's rise came despite the Dow Jones closing 0.7 per cent lower overnight on Thursday after United States investors digested the previous day's strong rally, which had been triggered by dovish Federal Reserve comments suggesting a delay in US rate rises.

The bank's economic projections were lower than previously forecast, with US gross domestic product expected to grow 2.3 to 2.7 per cent this year, down sharply from the central bank's estimate of 2.6 to 3 per cent in December.

However, the speech by US Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen was the defining event of the week, Morgans senior client adviser Bill Chatterton said. "She chose her words very well in that she came out and didn't scare the markets. It buoyed the US markets a lot and we responded accordingly," Mr Chatterton said.

The financial sector was the best performer over the past week, up about 3.7 per cent. "The banking sector continues to do very well. There's still significant demand for yield stocks and the banks are the ones that offer more sustainable and ongoing earnings and dividends,"  he said.

As for the market breaking 6000 next week – for the first time since early 2008 – "we're 30 points away. If we have a reasonably good week, yes we can."

Three of the big four banks reached record highs this week, while NAB hit the highest since late 2007.

ANZ Banking Group closed 3.8 per cent higher to $36.79, Commonwealth Bank of Australia jumped 5.5 per cent to $96.32, National Australia Bank was 4.4 per cent stronger at $39.39 and Westpac Banking Corp added 5.1 per cent to $39.73.

Morgan Stanley put an "equal-weight" recommendation on Bank of Queensland and moved its price target to $12.80 from $12.40 a share. Bank of Queensland gained 3.8 per cent for the week to $36.79.

Shares in APN News and Media jumped by as much as 15 per cent to $1.08 – its highest price in almost four years – after it emerged on Thursday that News Corp Australia had taken a strategic 14.9 per cent stake in the radio and newspaper publisher following the sell-down of previous key stakeholder Independent News and Media. However, shares fell later in the session to finish 5 per cent higher for the day, and 7 per cent higher for the week, at 99c.

One of iiNet's largest shareholders is objecting to the pricing and structure of billionaire David Teoh's TPG Telecom bid, in a move threatens to complicate the $1.4 billion deal.

BT Investment Management is iiNet's biggest institutional shareholder, with 5.7 per cent of the group's shares. Its head of smaller companies, Paul Hannan, said the fund manager was disappointed and has" major reservations" about the bid in its current form.

For the week, iiNet was 5.2 per cent higher at $8.95 while TPG Telecom lost 3.4 per cent to $8.80.

Myer lost 14.3 per cent for the week to $1.35 after the company revealed on Thursday that first-half profit had sunk 23 per cent and its full-year profit would be lower than expected.

Crispin Murray, BT Investment Management's head of equities, put the prospect of a Myer takeover firmly on the table. "We saw with David Jones there are other companies around the world who will look at these assets and if they're cheap enough they could run them a bit better and get a good return on them," he told Fairfax Media.  "They have $3 billion in sales and they have some quite strategic locations with very good rents. There are some good assets there [and] there is a price for those assets."

Myer's shares are hanging around record lows and the company is valued at just $896 million. For some analysts, the sell-off has been overdone. Morgan Stanley's Thomas Kierath said Myer's valuation is too cheap given its $3 billion in sales, its strategic store locations and "brand heritage".

Boral rose 2.7 per cent for the week to $6.28 with Credit Suisse putting an "outperform" on the stock with a $6.50 a share price target. "Given the lack of surplus franking credits, we believe an on-market buyback is the most tax effective way of returning capital to shareholders," Credit Suisse said.

Among the miners for the week, BHP put on 3 per cent to $30.67 and Rio Tinto added 2.25 per cent to $58.59.