Wall Street hits record highs as economy seen accelerating

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow industrials set record closing highs on Thursday after a batch of economic data suggested the U.S. economy was picking up speed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 135.53 points, or 0.65 percent, to 21,144.18, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 18.26 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,430.06 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 48.31 points, or 0.78 percent, to 6,246.83.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by James Dalgleish)