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Every afternoon ValueWalk provides an update on global market levels, economic news, and hedge fund news. Market Levels US: Dow: 12849.59 (-1.05%), S&P 500: 1370.26 (-1.25%), NASDAQ: 3011.33 (-1.45%) Europe: CAC: 3189.09 (-2.53%), DAX: 6583.90 (-2.42%), FTSE: 5651.79 (-1.04%). Asia-Pacific: Australia: 4323.30 (1.00%), China: 2359.16 (0.35%), Hong Kong: 20701.04 (1.81%), India: 5207.45 (-1.32%), Japan: 9637.99 (1.17%). Metals: Gold: 1660.20 (-1.21%), Silver: 31.51 (-3.12%), Copper: 3.61 (-2.71%) Energy: Crude Oil: 102.83 (-0.78%), Natural Gas: 1.98 (0.30%) Commodities: Corn: 6.20 (-1.31%), Soya Bean: 13.61 (-0.81%), Wheat: 6.30 (-2.21%) Currency: EUR/USD: 1.3078 (-0.83%), GBP/USD: 1.5847 (-0.71%), USD/JPY: 80.9300 (0.05%)

  Market and Economy News Update U.S. markets drop over one percent: Markets accelerated their selloff in the final hour of trading on Friday and recorded their worst weekly decline for the year, as a slowdown in Chinese growth overshadowed a slew of better-than-expected earnings results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI), the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) and the NASDAQ (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) all closed deep in the red.   10 year US Treasury: 1.982% (-0.069)  

Consumer sentiment falls in April: The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index in early April dropped to 75.7 from 76.2 last month, as consumers felt more cautious about the current state of the economy. Economists were expecting the preliminary April reading to remain at 76.2. Oil prices fall: Oil prices fell on Friday and settled under $103, after data showed, China, the world’s No. 2 oil consumer, suffered its weakest first-quarter economic growth in  nearly three years. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi said today the kingdom is not happy at the prolonged period of high oil prices and is determined to see lower prices. Crude-oil futures for May delivery fell 0.8 percent to $102.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent oil for May rose 10 cents to $121.81 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange

Company News Update American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG), which is majority owned by the U.S. Treasury Department, said the U.S. may exit its stake in the insurer by next year. New York-based AIG last month bought back $3 billion of stock from the Treasury at $29 a share, reducing the U.S. stake to about 70 percent. Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR), the largest publicly traded U.S. hotel chain, is planning to double its operations in the Caribbean and Latin America by 2017 as the company looks to cope up with rising demand in the region. Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)’s board of directors has hired Washington law firm WilmerHale as part of its investigation of Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn’s personal conduct. Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:LNG) ended 7.4 percent higher after Bloomberg reported the government may decide as soon as next week on Cheniere’s proposed liquefied natural gas export plant at Sabine Pass in Louisiana.

Coal and natural gas producer, Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) was cut to “neutral” from “outperform” at Credit Suisse Group AG. The stock plunged percent. Information technology services company, iGate Corporation (NASDAQ:IGTE) said first-quarter earnings rose a bigger-than-expected 35 percent, as revenue jumped more than three-fold to $263.3 million.  Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings jumped to 38 cents from 23 cents a year earlier. Analysts were expecting an adjusted profit of 32 cents a share. Joe’s Jeans Inc. (NASDAQ:JOEZ) surged 10.5 percent in today’s trading after the maker of denim clothing said retail same-store sales rose 22 percent in the first quarter.