Asian equities traded without clear direction on Thursday as investors weighed fresh uncertainty over Federal Reserve leadership and awaited results from heavyweight technology companies. Stocks in Australia outperformed, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising about 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 eked out a roughly 0.2% gain after an early decline, while benchmarks in China, Hong Kong and South Korea were little changed. Japanese shares lagged the region earlier in the session as the yen’s recent strength pressured exporters. Volatility was driven by conflicting signals from Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump told Republican lawmakers he had considered removing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, according to multiple reports, stoking fears about the central bank’s independence. Trump later said he was “not planning” to fire Powell, but kept the option open, leaving markets on edge. U.S. financial markets steadied after Wednesday’s brief sell-off: S&P 500 futures were flat to slightly lower in Asian hours, the dollar trimmed overnight losses and the 10-year Treasury yield hovered near 4.48%. Attention now shifts to corporate earnings. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is expected to post record second-quarter profit, while Netflix reports after Thursday’s U.S. close. Investors will also parse U.S. retail-sales data and weekly jobless claims for clues on the economy as tariffs of 10%–15% on more than 150 trading partners begin to feed through to prices.