Equities hit record highs, dollar weakens on gloomy data

Equity markets worldwide climbed to record highs on Friday as solid corporate earnings and an all-time peak for the Nasdaq stock index stoked investor optimism, while the dollar eased on gloomy U.S. economic data. Amazon.com Inc , Microsoft Corp and Google Inc led Wall Street higher, pushing the Nasdaq to a second straight record closing high a day after it topped a record that had stood for more than 15 years.