By Alexander Villegas and Marco Aquino
June 8 (Reuters) - Leftist congressman Roberto Sanchez was closing in on conservative Keiko Fujimori in Peru's presidential race on Monday, sending markets and mining stocks lower as the official count continued into a second day.
With about 93% of votes tallied, Fujimori's lead had shrunk to 50.07%, while Sanchez was up to 49.93%. Sanchez has been gaining ground since Sunday night as votes from Peru's rural regions continue to be counted.
Sanchez has vowed a significant
overhaul to Peru's economic system, which has proved resilient despite the country's political turmoil.
U.S.-listed shares of Peruvian companies were down. Miner Buenaventura fell 3%, while Credicorp was down 4.8%. Intercorp Financial Services fell 2.8% and iShares MSCI Peru and Global Exposure ETF was down 1.4%.
Aside from reforming the constitution, Sanchez has proposed reforming large mining concessions.
Peru is the world's third-largest copper producer and a major producer of gold, silver and zinc.
Fujimori had a slight lead in exit polls and early results, but her lead dwindled as the count reached its final stretch.
An early tally by pollster Ipsos, which has accurately predicted previous races, showed Sanchez leading with 50.3% compared to Fujimori's 49.7%. Ipsos representatives said the result remained too close to call.
Peru's ONPE electoral authority said a full count was expected to be completed by July.
The result echoes the 2021 runoff, when Fujimori and Pedro Castillo finished roughly 50.1% to 49.9% and the proclamation dragged on for weeks.
(Reporting by Alexander Villegas, Marco Aquino and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Additional reporting by Lucinda Elliott; Editing by Louise Heavens, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Alex Richardson)
