KARACHI - Karachi Stock Exchange-100 index breached the 8,000 points barrier on Tuesday but the index skipped below this benchmark due to selling pressure triggered by the profit-taking. The KSE-100 index kicked off trading amid a tough bout between the bulls and the bears. The stock market frequently moved both ways because of profit-taking by the key players and finally landed into negative zone. The turnover of 100-index mounted to 404.119 million shares having worth of 17.96 billion rupees. The market capitalisation slightly fell to 2.84 trillion rupees ($36.89 billion), from 2.841 trillion rupees ($37.24b) of previous session that showed a decline of 0.03 per cent. The enforcement of Sharia in Malakand and reports of mergers in the banking sector further supported the bullish sentiment at the stock market. During intra-day trading, the KSE-100 index excelled above 8,000 points but the index failed to sustain this level as some of the key investors opted for profit-taking at a time when a majority of the investors was seeing a bullish mood of the market after peace deal and merger reports in the financial sector. The KSE-100 index shed 39.64 points and it closed at 7,833 points. During intra-day trading the KSE-100 index mounted to 8,009 points benchmark. Out of 361 companies active at Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday, 243 lost value, 109 gained while the worth of nine companies shares remained unchanged. President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Shariah Nizam-e-Adel Regulation late Monday night to enforce Shariah in Malakand to meet a major demand of the NWFP government and the peace-loving people of the area. Meanwhile, Habib Bank Limited, MCB Bank and Jahangir Siddiqui Company Limited showed their interest in acquiring stake of Royal Bank of Scotland in Pakistan and these major developments in the financial sector encouraged the stock market investors to take fresh positions, a stock market analyst said. He said the profit-taking disappointed the investors and this tendency landed the KSE-100 index into the negative zone. Stock market analysts are of the opinion that the KSE-100 index would consolidate around 8,000 points this week and the index could move forward next week with the same vigour and strength it had seen during the past few weeks. The top 10 volume leaders on Tuesday were Jahangir Siddiqui Company Limited, Arif Habib Securities, OGDC, PTCL, KESC, DG Khan Cement, NIB Bank, NBP, Lucky Cement and Pakistan Oilfields. The Jahangir Siddiqui Company Limited outpaced all the other blue chips in attracting the volume of trading. The JSCL recorded trading of 28.91m shares and the share of the company improved by 1.89 rupees, closing at 42.10 rupees. The AHS attracted 22.665 million shares turnover with a marginal gain of only 19 paisa and the share of the company closed at 35.55 rupees. The OGDC recorded 22.596m shares trading without any change in the value of its share. About 22.467m shares of PTCL changed hands on Tuesday while the value of the companys share improved by 67 paisa, to close at 20.50 rupees. The KESC attracted 21.966m shares trading with net gain of 48 paisa in its share that closed at 3.89 rupees. The DGK Cement also gained 87 paisa with a turnover of 16.535m shares and the share of the co settled at 28.69 rupees.