Stocks in Asia Pacific were set to trade mixed on Thursday as investors continued to watch tensions between the U.S. and China.

Futures pointed to a mixed start for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 22,520 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 22,460. That compared against the Nikkei 225’s last close at 22,514.85.

Shares in Australia were set for a lower open. The SPI futures contract was at 5,989.0, as compared to the S&P/ASX 200’s last close at 6,001.30.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that President Donald Trump’s administration wants to ban “untrusted” Chinese apps such as TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores. That development followed tensions between Washington and Beijing heating up in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, a range of issues remains unresolved among lawmakers stateside in coronavirus relief negotiations, with the White House threatening to act on its own if it fails to reach a deal with Democrats.

On the earnings front, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor is set to post its quarterly financial results on Thursday.

Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 advanced 0.6% to close at 3,327.77 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to end its trading day at 10,998.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 373.05 points, or 1.4%, to 27,201.52.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 92.868 after declining to levels below 92.8 earlier.

The Japanese yen traded at 105.59 per dollar after strengthening from levels above 105.6 against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7201 following its rise from levels below $0.715 this week.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap:

• Japan: Toyota Motor quarterly earnings