Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures tumbled on concern an emergency interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve will fail to halt a worsening global economic slowdown.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest oil company, and Barrick Gold Corp., the biggest gold producer, fell as crude and metal prices decreased. Bank of America Corp. declined after the second-largest U.S. bank said earnings dropped 95 percent.

S&P 500 Index futures expiring in March retreated 40.5, or 3.1 percent, to 1,284.8 as of 8:36 a.m. in New York after earlier slumping as much as 5.3 percent. The MSCI World Index fell 0.2 percent. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 1.5 percent after earlier dropping as much as 4.1 percent.

``People may see it as an extreme step and feel that it's a sign the situation is worse than they had anticipated,'' said John Carey, who helps oversee about $13 billion at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston. ``This will definitely wake people up who were thinking the economy was just fine.''

The Fed lowered its benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage point to 3.5 percent in its first emergency move since 2001. Policy makers weren't scheduled to gather on rates until Jan. 29-30.

``While strains in short-term funding markets have eased somewhat, broader financial market conditions have continued to deteriorate,'' the Fed said in a statement. The Federal Open Market Committee took the action ``in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth.''

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