A large new European stock exchange unveiled yesterday by the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels bourses will have a stock market listing by the end of the year and has plans to expand into the London and US markets.

Mr Jean-Francois Theodore, chairman and chief executive of Euronext created from the first full merger of stock exchanges from different countries, said it was "especially open" to London-based institutions and would need to gain a foothold in the US to secure its global ambitions.

It has emerged that Euronext has held talks with London's Liffe derivatives market, with a view to bolstering its position in fixed-income derivatives trading.

The new stock exchange raises the stakes for other bourses in the race to become the dominant market place for financial products in Europe.

It will be the second largest European exchange, behind the London Stock Exchange, by market capitalisation and number of companies listed.

Observers said its size would force other European stock exchanges to clarify their own strategies.

The Dublin stock exchange is also under pressure.

Its chief executive, Mr Tom Healy, has said the new grouping undermines the alliance of the European exchanges of which Dublin was a part.