Japan's Nikkei stock index jumps 4.5% after ruling party chooses an ultra-conservative as its leader

Key Points

• Japan's Nikkei stock index surged 4.3% following the election of ultra-conservative Sanae Takaichi as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, positioning her as the likely first woman prime minister.
• Takaichi is expected to continue the market-friendly policies of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but faces challenges such as Japan's ageing population and significant public debt.
• The U.S. dollar strengthened against the yen due to expectations of increased spending under Takaichi, while shares of major automakers like Toyota and Honda rose on reports of potential reductions in U.S. tariffs.
• Globally, other Asian markets also experienced gains, although China's, Taiwan's, and South Korea's markets were closed for holidays.

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 Fitch Solutions said in a commentary. That includes “boosting Japan’s economic competitiveness and strengthening the country’s technological and industrial base and adopting measures to mitigate the impact of Japan’s ageing and declining population amid a colossal public debt burden.”

An unconfirmed report that U.S. President Donald Trump might be considering ways to reduce the cost of his higher tariffs on auto parts and other materials for U.S. manufacturers helped automakers' share prices. Toyota Motor Corp.'s shares jumped 4.9% in Tokyo and Honda Motor Co. gained 4.7%.

The Nikkei 225 index was up 4.5% at 47,835.36 by midday Monday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index sank 0.8% lower to 27,930.45.

The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, on expectations that Takaichi will boost spending, likely adding to inflationary pressures. The dollar rose to 149.88 Japanese yen from 149.33 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1720 from $1.1730.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1% to 8,977.10.

Markets in mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea were closed for holidays.

On Friday, most U.S. stocks ticked higher, adding to Wall Street records.

The S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.1% to close out its seventh winning week in the last nine, ending at 6,715.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5% to 46,758.28. Both added to their all-time highs set the day before.

The Nasdaq composite lost an early gain and slipped 0.3% from its own record, to 22,780.51.

Usually, the first Friday of each month has Wall Street transfixed on the monthly jobs update that the U.S. government publishes. It shows how many jobs employers created and destroyed, while also updating the unemployment rate.

But the shutdown of the U.S. government, now in its third day, delayed the release of that data.

Such information is particularly important now, given how much on Wall Street is riding on the expectation that the job market is continuing to slow by enough to get the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates.

Past shutdowns of the U.S. government have tended not to hurt the economy or stock market much, and the thinking is that this one could be similar, even if President Donald Trump has threatened large-scale firings of federal workers this time around.

Reports came in mixed on activity for U.S. businesses in the health care, real estate and other services industries. One from the Institute for Supply Management said growth is stalling, while another from S&P Global said it’s still growing slowly.

In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 88 cents to $61.76 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 92 cents to $65.45 per barrel.

A group of countries that are part of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries agreed during the weekend to a small boost in oil production, citing a steady global economic outlook. That alleviated fears of an oversupply.

The group said after a virtual meeting on Sunday that it will raise oil production by 137,000 barrels per day in November, they same amount it announced for October. The group has been raising output slightly in a series of boosts all year, after announcing cuts in 2023 and 2024.