ASX 200 up on mining and energy; Afterpay dives as court approves $39bn sale

ASX closers higher on mining and energy; Afterpay dives 7.6 per cent as courts approve sale, Magellan in trading halt over contract 'termination' and Sydney Airport acquisition vote set.

The Australian sharemarket is set to open higher despite mixed lead on Wall Street.Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Friday, December 17. ASX closes higher, led by mining and energy sectors. It follows Magellan entering into a trading halt over a material contract 'termination' and Block's takeover of Afterpay gets approval by the courts.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.1 per cent or 8.3 points higher to 7304.0. The broader All Ordinaries index was up by 7.7 points or 0.1 per cent to 7626.2.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.1 per cent, the S&P 500 finished 0.9 per cent lower and tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.5 per cent. Gauges meanwhile were higher in Asia, the UK and Europe .

Iron ore lifted  4.6 per cent  to $US114.70 a tonne, while the US Nymex crude price gained 1.4 per cent to $US71.89 a barrel on strong energy demand in the US.