It was a record fourth quarter and year in 2004 for equity market financings, according to the Investment Dealers Association of Canada.

In its quarterly Review of Equity New Issues and Trading released today, the IDA says total issuance jumped to a record $16.1 billion in the fourth quarter, up 51% from the third quarter.

According to the IDA, the quarter’s record activity was underpinned by several sizeable issues, which boosted common equity financings to $9.2 billion, up 44% quarter-over-quarter.

For the full year, total issuance surged to $48.7 billion, shattering the previous record level in 2003 by 12%.

For 2004, common equity financings reached a record-high at $26.4 billion, up 41% from 2003.

Secondary common share financing hit a record high at $5.3 billion in Q4, up 9.4% from the third quarter. The $2.2 billion secondary offering from TELUS Corp. helped fuel the quarter’s explosion.

The resources sector continued to dominate financings, but activity cooled in the quarter. In the fourth quarter, resource-based financings dropped 45% from the third quarter and accounted for 32.5% of total issues in the period.

Income trust unit issuance rebounded in the quarter to $6.02 billion, up 128%% over the third quarter 2004. For 2004, income trust issuance totalled $16.83 billion, down 2% from 2003.

Less active in the quarter were issues of limited partnerships, preferred shares and capital trusts. For 2004, all three forms of financings were down from 2003 levels.

Volume and value of stocks traded on the TSX was up 22% and 7% respectively from Q3. The S&P/TSX index recorded an impressive gain of 12.5% for the year.