Investor sentiment for the eurozone has dropped for the third month in a row, with worries about deteriorating Sino-American relations weighing heavily on the outlook. The Sentix eurozone index dropped to 19.6 in April, from 24 the previous month and 32.9 at the start of this year, the Financial Times reported. A sub-index tracking expectations turned negative for the first time in almost two years. “Investors are deeply concerned about US President Donald Trump’s customs announcements, which trigger countermeasures (China),” said Patrick Hussy, Sentix’s head of portfolio management.

Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) will meet investors in London on April 4, two sources close to the bank told Reuters, as the Tuscan lender seeks to soothe concerns over its turnaround progress, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Monte dei Paschi is grappling with falling revenues and high bad loans that led to an 8.1 billion euro ($10 billion) bailout last year, with Rome injecting 3.9 billion euros into the country's fourth-largest bank and investors shouldering the rest.

German industrial production dropped in February by the widest margin in two and a half years, according to data released on Friday that underscore the headwinds faced by the eurozone’s powerhouse economy in the first quarter, the Financial Times reported. The wide-ranging gauge of German industry slumped 1.6 per cent in February from the previous month, according to the Federal Statistics Office. It was the steepest fall since August 2015 and compared with economist expectations of a 0.3 per cent rise, according to FactSet data. Energy production was a standout, jumping 4 per cent.

Russia's Sberbank may get around 30 percent of Croatia's indebted food group Agrokor following a debt settlement, a Croatian newspaper reported on Saturday. Agrokor, the biggest employer in the Balkans, was put under state-run administration last April and has until July to reach a final deal with creditors, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The company said last month it expected to have debt settlement terms ready by April 10, and creditors would vote on the deal before July 10, the legal deadline for avoiding bankruptcy.

Growth in the eurozone economy is slowing down, complicating the European Central Bank’s deliberations on how quickly to remove its stimulus measures and start raising interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reported. The $10 trillion eurozone economy entered 2018 on a high, having chalked up its strongest year in a decade in 2017, with growth outpacing the U.S. But a series of economic releases in recent weeks from across the 19-country currency area have been weaker than expected, suggesting that while growth will continue in 2018, it won’t be as strong.

United Arab Emirates energy firm Dana Gas said on Sunday it had received a new injunction from the English High Court restricting its ability to pay dividends or increase its debt, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The injunction is the latest salvo in a complex legal battle in the UAE and Britain which began last year when Dana halted payments on its $700 million of Islamic bonds, arguing the sukuk had become unlawful because of changes in Islamic finance. Since then, sukuk holders have been trying to force the company to redeem the sukuk.

Euro zone banks that have issued bonds under English law may face capital shortfalls after Britain leaves the EU, regulators in the currency bloc said as they encourage banks to switch to continental law for future contracts, Reuters reported. The corporate bond market is one of several sectors in which a tectonic shift away from English law may occur if Britain and the European Union failed to mutually recognize their financial rules after Brexit.

Retail sales in the euro area remained lacklustre in February, just edging up from January after two months of decline, the Financial Times reported. Month-on-month, retail sales climbed 0.1 per cent, driven by higher sales of vehicle fuel and food. That followed a worse than previously thought performance in January, when sales dropped 0.3 per cent on the month, and a 1 per cent decline in the final month of 2017. Economists had expected more robust data, despite disappointing figures from Germany published earlier this week.

Russia's top state lender Sberbank opposes a plan by billionaire Mikhail Gutseriyev to merge his oil assets into one firm and replace co-owner Glencore because of concerns about his energy companies' heavy debts, sources told Reuters. Gutseriyev, who has built his oil wealth with the help of Glencore over the past 15 years, had to endure a painful debt restructuring that left his energy empire split into two parts, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Irish drinks company C&C has bought the wholesale business of Conviviality, after the ailing alcoholic drinks retailer and supplier appointed administrators on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported. Following “advanced discussions” with Conviviality, which owns brands such as Wine Rack and Bargain Booze, C&C said it had agreed to buy Conviviality brands Matthew Clark, Bibendum, Catalyst, Peppermint, Elastic and Walker & Wodehouse for a nominal sum. C&C brands include Magners cider and Tennent’s lager.