US stocks steady after European elections US equities were muted in early trading on Monday as investors digested the news from the weekend in Europe that pro-austerity leaders in Greece and France had suffered setbacks in national elections. The S&P 500 edged fractionally lower to 1,368.25. The benchmark US index is looking to recover its losses from last week when it dropped 2.4 per cent. The Vix Index, known informally as Wall Street's "fear gauge," rose 2.9 per cent to 19.72. The Vix, which measures implied volatility on S&P 500 options contracts, saw its steepest jump since early February last week as it gained 17.5 per cent. Barry Knapp, chief US equity strategist at Barclays, said: "The elections were as expected and will only serve to bring attention to the broader issue of slowing economic growth, not due to austerity, the culprit is excess debt and the resultant deleveraging in the banking system." He added: "The current debate about growth or austerity is a red herring; the markets are not going to fund additional spending by governments that already spend at a rate of 50 per cent of GDP." Shares in AIG , the insurer that was bailed out by the government during the financial crisis, lost 6 per cent to $30.85. The US Treasury said on Sunday that it will offer 63 per cent of its stake in the company to the public at $30.50 a share. AIG will purchase $2bn worth of the offering which is valued at $5bn. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3 per cent to 12,995.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index was 0.1 per cent lower at 2,952.06. Apple , the heaviest weighted stock on the Nasdaq, gained 0.9 per cent to $570.11 as the company's shares look to recover. Shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions were leading the decliners on the main US markets as the outsourcing company said its full-year sales and earnings would come in below expectations. Cognizant lost 12.5 per cent to $60.99 as it said demand had cooled for its services as the second-quarter began. Tyson Foods , the US meat producer, was among the leading gainers after it said second-quarter earnings rose despite climbing beef prices. Shares in Tyson gained 3.2 per cent to $18.62 in early activity.