PARIS, June 2: The New York Stock Exchange has launched a $10 billion bid for pan-European stock market Euronext in a move that is set to redraw the landscape of European financial markets and isolate German operator Deutsche Boerse.

The NYSE said late Thursday that it would offer to buy Euronext with a mix of cash and stock, creating the first trans-Atlantic exchange with a market capitalisation of $20 billion — the biggest in the world.

The long-speculated deal was set to usher in a new era for financial markets, one in which investors can trade stocks, options, futures, commodities and corporate bonds on two continents up to 12 hours a day.

The possible arrival of the NYSE in Europe via the acquisition of Euronext would also be a blow to ambitions to create a vast European financial market strong enough to challenge Wall Street.—AFP