US stocks tumbled early Friday, following global markets downward after a big drop in Chinese equities and another fall in oil prices.

About 12 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 16,013.56, down 365.49 points (2.23 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 40.30 (2.10 percent) to 1,881.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 114.64 (2.48 percent) to 4,500.36.

Sentiment was dented by the 3.6 percent loss in Shanghai stocks, the Chinese market entering official bear territory -- a 20 percent fall from a recent high.

Adding to the woes were a fresh 12-year low in oil prices and US data that showed US retail sales fell 0.1 percent in December to cap the slowest year of growth since 2009.