NEW YORK (AP) — Japan’s Nikkei stock index jumped more than 4% on Monday after its ruling party chose an ultra-conservative as its leader and likely first woman prime minister.

Other Asian markets also were mostly higher.

The Liberal Democrats elected Sanae Takaichi, an ally of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as their leader, likely ensuring she will carry on with his market-friendly policies. Takaichi, 64, admires former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and backed Abe’s ultra-conservative vision for the country.

She is likely to become prime minister because the LDP has the most seats in the lower house, although not a majority. It chooses the prime minister, and opposition groups are splintered.

She faces a host of challenges that have bedeviled her predecessors, BMI of

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