Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks which exchange combined with the New York Stock Exchange in 2007 to create a stock exchange group that spanned two continents for the first time.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Recall the timeline of major exchange mergers in the 2000s. NYSE Group had already merged with Archipelago in the US in 2006, and it was actively looking at Europe for its next expansion.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Euronext itself was a European exchange group, built earlier in 2000 by joining the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels bourses, with Lisbon and the London derivatives market, Liffe, added later.
In April 2007, NYSE Group and Euronext completed their merger and formed NYSE Euronext.
This was the first exchange group to bring together a leading US equities market and leading European equities markets under one holding company.
Xetra and Eurex are both platforms tied to Deutsche Borse in Germany, not to this NYSE deal, and Chi-X was a separate low-cost trading venue, so none of these three fit.
Step 4: Final Answer:
The New York Stock Exchange merged with Euronext in 2007, creating NYSE Euronext, the first global equities exchange.