The JSE closed softer on Thursday following a relatively lukewarm session in which the bourse struggled for direction.

The local bourse shrugged off gains that were recorded in Europe and the United States of America following the announcement that the United Kingdom and European Union had agreed on a Brexit deal.

In the USA, positive US corporate earnings played a huge factor in pushing the major indices towards all-time highs.

With no economic data being released locally, the JSE struggled to find a significant catalyst for direction.

There were some positives with the rand as it rebounded from its overnight lows to strengthen against the greenback.

The rand peaked at a session high of R14.76/$ before it was recorded trading 0.76% firmer at R14.81/$ at 17:00.

JSE buoyed by firmer close in Asia

Hospitality Property Fund [JSE:HPB] came under significant pressure as it tumbled 8.13% to close at R7.35, while Liberty Two Degrees [JSE:L2D] fell 5.29% to close at R6.81.

Rand hedge Mondi PLC [JSE:MNP] lost 5.21% as it closed at R292.20, while Sappi [JSE:SAP] retreated 2.74% to close at R37.57.

Mining giant BHP Group [JSE:BHP] lost 2.01% to close at R305.93 following the release of its operational update which highlighted lower production volumes across most of their products.

Clicks [JSE:CLS] also came under struggled on the day as it lost 2.5% to close at R249.00, while African Rainbow Capital [JSE:AIL] retreated 3.2% to end the day at R4.84.

Losses were also recorded for Anglo American PLC [JSE:AGL] which lost 1.27% to close at R360.54, and Telkom [JSE:TKG] which closed at R69.38 after losing 1.43%.

Mediclinic [JSE:MEI] closed amongst the day's biggest gainers after it advanced 4.41% to close at R73.61, while the news of a Brexit deal saw Intu Properties [JSE:ITU] rally 4.31% to close at R9.44.

Stadio Holdings managed to add 3.21% to close at R2.25, while Curro Holdings [JSE:COH] firmed 2.79% to end the day at R19.53.

Other significant gains on the day were recorded for Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] which rose 2.39% to close at R104.23, Exxaro Resources [JSE:EXX] which gained 2.12% to close at R120.76, and Woolworths [JSE:WHL] which closed at R55.60 after gaining 1.09%.

Stocks rise on positive US earnings and Brexit deal

The JSE All-Share index closed 0.07% softer while the blue-chip JSE Top-40 index shed 0.28%. The Industrials index managed to record gains of 0.39%, however the Resources and Financials indices lost 1.22% and 0.1% respectively.

Brent crude retreated on the day as data out of the USA showed an increase crude oil inventory.

The commodity was trading 0.64% weaker at $59.04/barrel just after the JSE close.

At 17:00, Gold was 0.1% firmer at $1491.50/oz, Platinum was 0.23% softer at $884.00/oz, and Palladium had shed 0.4% to trade at $1763.26/oz.