U.S. stocks were poised for a lower open on Monday, indicating equities may pull back from nearly 4-year highs after cash-rich Apple said it will begin paying a dividend and buying back stock.

Apple Inc , the world's most valuable company, announced it will initiate a quarterly dividend of $2.65 and buy back up to $10 billion of its stock, sending futures retreating. Speculation heated up in recent weeks over how the iPad maker might use its $98 billion cash stockpile.

It's a good story, the market was kind of expecting that. People were questioning what Apple could do with the money other than earn nothing, said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital In Jersey City, New Jersey.

Apple shares gained 1.7 percent to $595.61 in premarket trade.

The S&P 500 capped its fifth straight weekly gain, with its best week in three months on Friday. The index has risen in seven of the past eight sessions for a 4.5 percent climb.

We have to pull back somewhat. We have got to get a little closer to technical support, just in order for the trend to remain healthy, Kind of like pruning the tree, the market needs a little bit of a pruning, said Kenny.

S&P 500 futures fell 1.7 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 13 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were off 0.5 point.

United Parcel Service Inc gained 1.1 percent to $79.24 premarket after the package delivery group said it will buy Dutch peer TNT Express , making UPS the market leader in Europe.

Economic data expected later Monday includes the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo March housing market index at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).

After the closing bell, Adobe Systems Inc is set to post quarterly results. The mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters is for a profit of 57 cents a share for the software maker.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp , which provides commercial information on businesses, said local employees in China may have violated U.S. anti-bribery laws. It suspended operations at a local unit while it conducts an inquiry.

Broadcom Corp gained 1.9 percent to $38.53 premarket after the chipmaker said it won a preliminary injunction against Emulex Corp in a patent infringement suit.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

China Apple inc. Apple