Wall Street indexes log record high closes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks started the fourth quarter on a strong note on Monday, with the S&P 500, the Dow and the Russell 2000 all hitting record high closes as data pointed to underlying strength in the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 154.02 points, or 0.69 percent, to 22,559.11, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 9.84 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,529.2 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 20.76 points, or 0.32 percent, to 6,516.72.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by James Dalgleish)