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European stocks clawed their way back from three-week lows on Friday, lifted by gains in financials and industrials, leaving the benchmark index more or less where it began the week. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.8%, and ended the week just 0.07% higher. Spanish stocks outperformed other regional markets, rising 1.3% to close at a more than one-week high, with other major indexes also in positive territory. Germany's Munich Re and France's SCOR led European insurer stocks 2.1% higher, snapping a three-day losing streak. The construction and materials sector gained 1.1%, with Ireland's Kingspan up 1.2% after brokerage Citigroup raised its price target. Shares of steel producers also rose after German business daily Handelsblatt reported that the European Commission plans to impose tariffs of 25% to 50% on Chinese steel and related products. The world's second-largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal was up 2.6%, while Aperam rose 2.2%. Germany's Thyssenkrupp added 3.5% and Salzgitter gained 5.2%. TARIFFS BACK IN FOCUS Healthcare stocks reversed earlier losses to end flat, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new round of punishing tariffs, including a 100% import duty on branded drugs. "It was already priced in," said Nabil Milali, multi-asset & overlay portfolio manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management in Paris. "A lot of investors were expecting these kinds of tariffs and it was partly reflected in valuations in the healthcare sector." The sector is one of the worst performers in Europe so far this year, with a sharp decline in weight-loss drugmaker Novo Nordisk one of the biggest drags. Trump also announced a 25% levy on heavy-duty trucks, pushing the shares of Daimler Truck and Traton down more than 2% each. U.S. inflation data in line with expectations eased fears that sticky price pressures could see the Federal Reserve delay rate cuts. Markets had been banking on aggressive easing this year but resilient economic indicators have tempered the optimism. Traders now expect about 39 basis points of cuts by December - a slight pullback from earlier bets of over 40 bps, according to LSEG data. UK's InterContinental Hotels Group gained 4% after JPMorgan double upgraded its rating to "overweight" from "underweight". Italian fashion group Brunello Cucinelli extended Thursday's losses by another 1.7%, rocked by a report from short-seller Morpheus Research. Lufthansa rose 1.6% after a Reuters report said the airline is expected to announce several thousand job cuts on Monday.

Rapid medicine delivery startup Plazza, founded by former Zomato head of dining out Aman Priyadarshi, has secured $1.4 million funding led by All In Capital. Better Capital, data platform Tracxn founder Abhishek Goyal, e-scooter maker Bounce's founder Vivekananda Hallekere and family office of the Singhania family, the promoters of JK Tyre also participated in the round, Priyadarshi told ET.Plazza will use the funds to expand its product categories and increase its store footprint in Bengaluru. Currently, it has one store in the city, and plans on adding two more in the near-term.While Plazza is a rapid delivery platform for medicine with a delivery timeline of 15 minutes to 60 minutes, it has taken an omnichannel approach. It started with its flagship store in Yemalur and Plazza aims to open 20 new stores in the next 12 months."A typical pharmacy has 4,000-5,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) which is very small in size and doesn't have all the medicines that customers need," said Priyadarshi, who is the startup's founder and chief executive. "We are challenging how retailing of pharma is done.We have 20,000 SKUs which can be directly purchased from our store or delivered too."Plazza plans to expand its offerings to healthy snacks, mother and baby care, elderly care and dermatology products across its app and stores.

China's industrial profits returned to growth in August even as businesses braced for a broader economic slowdown amid persistent demand woes. A government crackdown on cost competition helped ease producer deflation last month, but missed economic forecasts have kept pressure on policymakers to bolster growth. Industrial profits rose 20.4% in August from a year earlier, reversing a 1.5% year-on-year decline in July, while profits grew 0.9% in the first eight months compared to a 1.7% decline in the January-July period, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Saturday. Intense competition in autos, solar and other key industrial sectors where relentless price wars have been relied on to outsell rivals has taken a toll on business margins. Electric vehicle maker BYD saw quarterly profit fall for the first time in three-and-a-half years. Beijing's efforts to rein in aggressive pricing strategies are showing some results, reflected in smaller declines in factory-gate prices. However, a solid recovery in demand remains elusive amid a prolonged housing downturn and weak labour market conditions. Both factory output and retail sales in August posted their weakest gains since last year. Chinese policymakers have refrained from major stimulus measures, balancing economic support against concerns about fuelling a hot stock market. Rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, however, could give the People's Bank of China room to ease policy without risking capital flight or yuan depreciation. State-owned firms saw profits fall 1.7% in the first eight months. Private-sector firms posted a 3.3% increase while foreign firms booked a 0.9% rise, the data showed. Industrial profit figures cover firms with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.81 million) from their main operations