S&P 500 Leaders and Laggards: A CELG

Agilent Technologies Inc. helped lift the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to a higher close on Thursday after the scientific equipment maker posted better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results.

The S&P 500 rose 14.91 points, or 1.1 percent, to end at 1423.57.

Shares of Agilent gained $2.81, or 8.6 percent, to $35.34. Late Wednesday, the company said its adjusted second-quarter earnings came in at 51 cents, 3 cents above analyst estimates, according to Thomson Financial.

Shares of Peabody Energy Corp. gained $5.57, or 7.8 percent, to $76.59, after earlier shooting to a fresh 52-week high of $77.14.

Chip maker NVIDIA Corp. jumped $1.71, or 7.8 percent, to $23.78. On Thursday, a Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst said strong demand from personal computer makers provided good reason to continue buying semiconductor stocks.

Among the declining stocks, Celgene Corp. slipped $1.71, or 2.8 percent, to $59.29.

Video game maker Electronic Arts lost $1.26, or 2.4 percent, to $51.52.

CBS Corp. gave up 59 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $24.23 after the company offered $1.8 billion, or a nearly 45 percent share price premium, for CNet Networks Inc.