US stock-index futures head south

US stock-index futures slumped, indicating the Standard & Poor's 500 Index will retreat from a five-week high, on concern that the Federal Reserve has few tools left to combat the deepening recession.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the securities firm that reported its first quarterly loss yesterday, fell 2.7 percent in Germany, while International Business Machines Corp, the world's largest provider of computer services, dropped 2.9 percent.

Futures suggested the S&P 500 will decline after a 5.1 percent rally on Tuesday spurred by the Fed's move to cut its benchmark interest rate to as low as zero. The central bank's decision came after simultaneous recessions in the US, Europe and Japan dragged the S&P 500 down almost 45 percent from its 2007 record.