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 that he will ruin the economy, Reuters reported. Humala claimed victory on Sunday night as results from 89 percent of ballot boxes gave him a narrow but growing lead of more than 2.7 percentage points over right-wing lawmaker Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori. Exit polls and quick counts from Sunday's election put Humala clearly ahead and his lead in the official returns was expected to grow as more votes came in from poor, rural areas. Peru's stock market sank about 11 percent, while the sol currency fell 1.5 percent, prompting the central bank to offer to sell about $215 million in deposit certificates aimed at curbing the currency's fall. "We want to install a government of national unity," Humala, 48, told thousands of cheering supporters after a bruising race that brought back bitter memories of Peru's chaotic past. Shares in mining companies fell as much as 15 percent, as investors fretted over the prospect of a windfall tax Humala wants to impose on Peru's vast mining sector. Shares in top companies in neighboring Chile with operations in Peru fell sharply, while Peru's sovereign bonds also plunged in New York on the vote outcome. Investors worry that Humala, who takes office on July 28, will increase state control over the economy and throw away fiscal discipline, and are keenly awaiting details of Humala's picks for economy minister and central bank chief. -- SPA
