US stocks have finished at new multi-year highs, extending last week’s solid gains, after Apple’s shock announcement of a massive dividend plan and share buyback plan and UPS’s takeover deal for TNT.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 5.61 points (0.04 per cent) to 13,238.23 in closing trade.

The broad-market S&P 500 rose 5.61 points (0.40 per cent) to 1,409.78, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the strongest rise, gaining 23.07 points (0.76 per cent) to 3,078.33.

Stocks found support after Apple announced it plans to pay a $US2.65 per share quarterly dividend and begin a $US10 billion share repurchase program, analysts said.

Apple closed 2.3 per cent higher at $US598.84 a share.