By Alexandra Gibbs,CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures dipped into the red prior to the start of Thursday’s session, ahead of another batch of corporate earnings.

Around 5:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 6 points, indicating a flat open of -3.75 points, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also pointing to a relatively flat to downbeat start to the day.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific and European regions were pointing in different directions Thursday, as investors monitored the latest developments in the trade spat between the U.S. and China.

On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury yields came under pressure after Beijing announced it would counter the most recent round of U.S. tariffs with its own. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced a 25 percent charge on $16 billion worth of U.S. goods. In total, 333 goods have been picked out by China, including vehicles, various types of fuels, recyclables and fiber optical cables.

It followed an announcement by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office that the States would begin gathering levies on an additional $16 billion in Chinese goods from later this month.

In corporate news, Norwegian Cruise Line, Viacom, Worldpay, Azul, Party City, Dropbox, News Corp., Lions Gate and TrueCar are due to release their quarterly earnings. Investors will also be looking at the share price moves from companies who reported after the bell Wednesday.

Key economic data scheduled for today includes jobless claims and producer price index (PPI) data, both due out at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by wholesale trade at 10 a.m. ET.

On the central banking front, another member of the U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to speak, a week after the Fed held fire on raising interest rates.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will be participating in a group media interview in Chicago.