The pound strengthened against its key counterparts in early European deals on Wednesday, as a data showed that the UK services sector growth improved unexpectedly at the end of the third quarter.

Data from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed that the services PMI rose to 53.6 in September, up from an 11-month low of 53.2 in August.

Economists were expecting a score of 53.2.

Meanwhile, European stocks are trading mixed as Spain braced for further political upheaval and investors waited for speeches by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, due later in the day for further direction.

The pound was trading mixed in the Asian session. While it rose against the greenback and the franc, it held steady against the yen and the euro.

The pound climbed to 1.3285 against the greenback, from a low of 1.3233 hit at 5:00 pm ET. If the pound-greenback pair extends rise, 1.34 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The pound reversed from an early 2-day low of 1.2876 against the Swiss franc, rising to 1.2929. Continuation of the pound's uptrend may see it challenging resistance around the 1.32 region.

Having fallen to near a 3-week low of 149.04 against the yen at 3:45 am ET, the pound reversed direction and advanced to 149.55. On the upside, 151.00 is possibly seen as the next resistance level for the pound.

The latest survey from Nikkei showed that Japan's services sector continued to expand in September, with a PMI score of 51.0.

That's down from 51.6 in August, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The pound edged up to 0.8852 against the euro, following a decline to 0.8879 at 9:15 pm ET. The pound is poised to target resistance around the 0.87 mark.

Final data from IHS Markit showed that the euro area private sector ended the third quarter strongly as output growth accelerated to a four-month high, underpinned by new orders in September.

The composite output index rose to 56.7 in September from 55.7 a month ago. The score matched the preliminary estimate.

Looking ahead, U.S. ADP private sector jobs data and ISM non-manufacturing composite index for September are slated for release in the New York session.

At 1:15 pm ET, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is scheduled to deliver opening remarks at the Inauguration of the ECB Visitor Center, in Frankfurt.

At 3:15 pm ET, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will deliver opening remarks at a community banking conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

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