NEW YORK — Chrysler was a step closer to emerging from bankruptcy protection today, a day after opponents of the automaker's planned partnership with Italy's Fiat exhausted their appeals in an effort to halt the Obama administration-backed sale.

Late Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the sale of the bulk of Chrysler's assets to Fiat, rejecting an appeal by a trio of Indiana pension and construction funds, consumer groups and others to block the transaction.

The deal will likely close today, according to a person briefed on the company's plans who declined to be named ahead of an official announcement by the automaker. Chrysler released a statement late Tuesday saying it expects the sale to close "very shortly."

The high court's action came on the heels of statements by Chrysler and Fiat that their deal would automatically expire if the sale didn't close by June 15 and a White House warning that there was no guarantee a new agreement could be brokered in time to save Chrysler from liquidation.

The sale of Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler's assets to Fiat had been expected to close more than a week ago, but Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg decided Monday to delay the sale while studying the appeals.

A federal appeals court in New York had earlier approved the sale, but gave opponents until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene. The Indiana funds, which hold less than 1 percent of Chrysler's secured debt, claimed the sale unfairly favors Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders such as the union ahead of secured debt-holders like themselves.

Chrysler, Fiat and the Obama administration stressed Chrysler was losing $100 million every day its plants remain closed and that the deal would automatically terminate in less than a week, with no guarantee that a new agreement would be reached.