NYSE, Tokyo Stock Exchange enter alliance

NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters) NYSE Group Inc. said on Wednesday that it will form a strategic alliance with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Asia's biggest bourse, as the U.S. exchange operator continues to expand globally.

The deal is the latest sign of a shift toward Asia as NYSE, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, and other big exchanges look to expand beyond the United States and Europe.

NYSE Chief Executive John Thain, who has spearheaded the exchange's planned merger with Paris-based Euronext, said previously that Asia was the exchange's next logical move.

Through the widely expected agreement, the two exchanges will develop and study opportunities in trading systems and technology, investment products and governance. The agreement is nonexclusive and sets the stage for a potential financial tie-up between the two.

The pact follows the Big Board's acquisition earlier this month of a stake in National Stock Exchange, the biggest stock exchange in India, and comes only weeks after its shareholders approved a billion merger with Euronext.

U.S. exchanges are seeking to maintain shareholder support by diversifying from crowded domestic markets. As the Big Board finalized its Euronext merger last month, its top rival, the Nasdaq Stock Market, launched a bid for the London Stock Exchange.

But overt takeovers may not be the model for exchanges looking to expand abroad, analysts say, noting that LSE quickly rebuffed Nasdaq's bid.

REUTERS KR DB2020