Hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi is almost certain to become Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, after the right-wing opposition Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, said it was ready to back her premiership.

“I told Takaichi that we should move forward together,” Ishin’s leader and Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters in the western Japanese city on Monday. He will meet with Takaichi at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) to conclude the alliance, he added.

Yoshimura and Ishin’s other boss, Fumitake Fujita, joined party lawmakers earlier at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) to discuss the coalition.

Investors’ anticipation of a deal that could lead to higher government spending weakened the yen and pushed stocks in Japan to a record high, with the blue-chip Nikkei share index jumping al

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