Investor fright as Peru votes left-wing leader

LEFT-WING former army commander Ollanta Humala won Peru’s presidential election and vowed the poor will share in the country’s new wealth but financial markets plummeted on fears he will ruin the economy.

Humala claimed victory and results from 89% of ballot boxes gave him a slim but growing lead of more than 2.7 percentage points over right-wing lawmaker Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori.

Peru’s stock market sank more than 12%, while the sol currency fell 1.5%, prompting the central bank to offer to sell about $215 million (€150m) in deposit certificates aimed at curbing the currency’s fall.