FRANKFURT (AFP) – Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext announced plans Wednesday for the world’s largest stock exchange, trumping a tie-up between London and Toronto and sparking speculation about who might be next.

Equity markets have bounced back from the nightmare slump of 2008 as the financial crisis pushed the global economy into recession and the two mergers appear set to capitalize on an advance most expect to continue this year.

‘‘This transaction creates a group that is both a world leader in derivatives and risk management and the premier global venue for capital raising,’’ Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext said in a joint statement.

‘‘The global capital markets would benefit from the creation of the most efficient, transparent and well-regulated markets for issuers and clients around the world.’’

The companies emphasized they were holding ‘’advanced discussions’’ but the deal had not been finalized.

The announcement came just hours after the London and Toronto stock exchanges said they were joining forces to create one of the world’s biggest trading platforms that will dominate the raw materials and energy sectors.

Both developments sparked intense speculation that the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) could be the next takeover target, sending its share price up nearly seven percent while NYSE Euronext jumped more than 15 percent.

‘‘The battle of the exchanges has intensified,’’ said Simon Denham, head of London-based Capital Spreads.

‘‘Announcing their tie-up just after the LSE’s announcement that they plan to merge with TMX is a clever move that’s taken the wind out of the LSE’s sails,’’ he said.

The new deal will establish the world’s largest securities exchange. NYSE Euronext’s equities markets, which include the New York, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam stock exchanges, already represent one third of world equities trading, the most liquidity of any global exchange group.

The combined group would offer clients ‘‘global scale, product innovation, operational and capital efficiencies, and an enhanced range of technology and market information solutions,’’ the statement said.

It is not the first time that Deutsche Boerse, which operates the Frankfurt stock exchange, has attempted to go down the aisle with Euronext. Its earlier advances were spurned, however, and in 2007 Euronext merged with the NYSE, which operates the New York Stock Exchange.

The German firm also tried and failed three times to buy the London Stock Exchange – in 1998, then in 2000 and 2005.

While the markets welcomed the announcements, analyst Jon Ogg of 24/7 Wall St.com cautioned that such tie-ups could be counter-productive with such a concentration of market power.

‘‘The bad news here is that the world of financial exchanges could literally consolidate down into too few players that are too powerful,’’ Ogg said.