The S&P 500 index is within a hair's breadth of its closing record, last hit in September, as a rebound in the health-care sector and gains in the consumer-discretionary sector take the broad-market benchmark to the brink of an all-time high. At last check, the S&P 500 index was up 0.5%, or 15 points, at 2,924, just off its closing high at 2,930.75 closing high put in on Sept. 20. The health-care sector, as reflected in the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF , was up 1% late-morning Tuesday. Consumer-discretionary shares, as gauged by the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF climbed 0.8%. Meanwhile, the other main equity benchmarks also were within record territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3% at 26,579, just off its Oct. 3 record at 26,828.39, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.7% at 8,071, less than 40 points from its Aug. 29 all-time closing high at 8,109.69, according to FactSet data. The three main benchmarks have mounted a steady ascent since putting in their lows on Dec. 24.