One of the world’s most-influential financiers has given his backing to Sir Keir Starmer, who he said had given him “hope” in politics.
Larry Fink, the chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, said the Labour leader had shown “real strength” to bring the party back to the centre ground after the years under Jeremy Corbyn.
He said that he hopes Labour’s transformation is an indication that the age of populism symbolised by Donald Trump is coming to an end in politics.
The boss of BlackRock, which manages assets worth $8.5trillion (£7trn), told the Wall Street Journal: “I was in the UK and I spent time with both parties — the Conservatives and Labour party — and I’m very pleased to see how the Labour party in the UK went from an extremist party with a Marxist leader to Keir Starmer who has shown real strength as a moderate Labour party.
“That actually has given me hope that the pendulum went so far.
“If you think about the UK — the UK was the one that started the high level populism through Brexit and then the populism here led to Donald Trump being president.
“I hope the UK – we will see what happens if Keir Starmer gets elected – but I believe that’s a measurement of hope.”
Mr Fink, a lifelong supporter of the Democrats, had been expected to head the Treasury if Hilary Clinton had beaten Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. However, he has rarely made interventions in UK politics.
A BlackRock spokesman said: “Larry was offering his observations on the transformation of the Labour Party and his view that political parties moving back toward the centre was a measurement of hope. He was not offering an endorsement of any political party.”
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What happened overnight
Asian shares slid as risk aversion prevailed due to mounting worries over Middle East conflict, while the bond sell-off intensified, taking Treasury yields to fresh 16-year highs ahead of a keenly awaited speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Investors sought safer assets, keeping gold prices near two-month peaks and the dollar firm. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.4pc.
Wall Street stocks ended sharply after a mixed-batch of quarterly corporate results pushed Treasury yields higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.98pc to 33,665.08. The S&P 500 lost 1.34pc to 4,314.6 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.62pc to 13,314.30.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.89pc from 4.84pc late Tuesday. It topped 4.90pc earlier in the day for the first time since since 2007.
Asian stocks are set to slide following US peers lower, driven by the continued sell-off in Treasuries and increasing tensions in the Middle East.
Australian shares fell at the open while futures contracts in Japan and Hong Kong pointed to early losses. Oil steadied after extending its rally in the previous session with the US suspending some sanctions on Venezuelan output. Gold also extended gains amid demand for safe-haven assets. The precious metal has now risen over 4pc in the last five days.
Australian and New Zealand bond yields surged in early trading, after rates on Treasuries climbed Wednesday, pushing the dollar higher. Fed Bank of New York President John Williams said interest rates will have to stay at restrictive levels “for some time” to bring inflation back to the central bank’s target.
Meanwhile, traders are preparing for turbulent yen trading amid growing concerns that Japanese authorities will intervene to support the weakening currency as it approaches the 150 per dollar level.
