softened the blow of disappointing results from General Electric.

Stocks gaining early included Sanford up 10c to $5.30, Auckland Airport up 2c to $1.56, NZX up 2c to $7.60, Property for Industry up 2c to $1.19, and Air New Zealand up 1c to 92.
Early declines were recorded by Trustpower, down 5c to $7.45, Mainfreight down 3c to $4.07, and Infratil down 1c to $1.73.
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In the United States stocks closed out their best week in four months on Friday on a flat note as strong earnings from IBM softened the blow of disappointing results from General Electric.